President Donald Trump impeached for abuse of power
Washington, Dec 19: President Donald Trump was impeached for abuse of power in a historic vote in the House of Representatives on Wednesday, setting up a Senate trial on removing him from office after three turbulent years.
By a 230 to 197 vote in the Democratic-majority House, the 45th US president becomes just the third occupant of the White House in American history to be impeached.
Democrats said they had "no choice" but to formally charge the Republican president, whose impeachment along stark party lines places an indelible stain on his record while driving a spike ever deeper into the US political divide.
"What is at risk here is the very idea of America," said Adam Schiff, the lawmaker who headed the impeachment inquiry, ahead of the vote.
Trump will now stand trial in the Senate, where his Republicans hold a solid majority and are expected to exonerate him.
The House vote came four months after a whistleblower blew open the scandal of Trump pressuring Ukraine's president to investigate his potential White House challenger in 2020, the veteran Democrat Joe Biden.
After a marathon of 10 hours of debate, lawmakers were to vote quickly on the second article of impeachment facing Trump -- for obstructing the congressional probe into his Ukraine dealings by blocking the testimony of subpoenaed White House aides.
Despite testimony from 17 officials that Trump leveraged his office for domestic politic gain, the president maintained his innocence throughout the impeachment inquiry -- furiously denouncing it as a "witch hunt," an "attempted coup" and on Wednesday as an "assault on America."
Trump spent the first part of the day holed up at the White House, sending out tweets reflecting his frustration, anger and predictions of revenge in the 2020 election.
But as the vote took place, the 73-year-old was on friendlier territory.
In an extraordinary split-screen moment, while the House was casting votes to impeach him, thousands of Trump's most fervent supporters were cheering him at a rally in Michigan where he railed against a "radical left" he said was "consumed with hatred."
Democrats are "trying to nullify the ballots of tens of millions of patriotic Americans," he charged.
"Four more years, four more years," the crowd chanted back.
Neither of the two previous presidents impeached since 1789, Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1998, was convicted in the Senate, and both held onto their jobs.
But despite the high likelihood of Trump being cleared by Senate Republicans, Democrats said the evidence against him was overwhelming and forced them to act.
"It is tragic that the president's reckless actions make impeachment necessary. He gave us no choice," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
"It is a matter of fact that the president is an ongoing threat to our national security and the integrity of our elections." Both camps approached the vote with solemnity.
"It's a big responsibility, it's sobering, and I think the members feel that way too," House Democrat Diana DeGette told AFP.
"I come to this floor not as a Republican, not as a Democrat, but as an American," said independent legislator Justin Amash.
"Impeachment is about maintaining the integrity of the office of the presidency."
The day of dramatic and often angry oratory saw both sides delving deep into Constitutional law, citing the intentions of the country's hallowed founders such as Benjamin Franklin or Alexander Hamilton.
Republicans repeatedly drove the line that the Democrats rushed the investigation; Trump was treated more unfairly than witches put on trial in the 17th century Americas -- or even than Jesus Christ, they claimed.
"Pontius Pilate gave Jesus the opportunity to face his accusers. During that sham trial, Pontius Pilate afforded more rights to Jesus than the Democrats afforded this president and this process," said Georgia Republican Barry Loudermilk.
They accused Democrats of being driven by a party fringe of socialist extremists and "Trump-haters," and warned that impeaching Trump would backlash against the party in national elections next November.
"This is not about the Ukraine, it's about power," said Republican Matt Gaetz.
"Voters will never forget that Democrats have been triggered into impeaching the president, because they don't like him, and they don't like us." Democrats countered that Republicans were not addressing the charges and evidence, instead issuing blanket denials and counter-accusations.
"We do not hear, because we cannot hear, because they cannot articulate, a real defence of the president's actions," said Jerry Nadler, whose Judiciary Committee drafted the charges against Trump.
Today marks the culmination in the House of one of the most shameful political episodes in the history of our Nation. Without a single Republican vote or any proof of wrongdoing, Democrats pushed illegitimate articles of impeachment through the House of Representatives.
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) December 19, 2019
In the end here, nothing happened. We don’t approach anything like the egregious conduct that should be necessary before a President should be removed from office. I believe that a President can’t be removed from office if there is no reasonable possibility that the Senate..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 18, 2019
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3rd T20I: A three-match 'audition' starts for Gill to find his game back
Dharamsala (PTI): The countdown to save his place in the playing XI begins for a beleaguered Shubman Gill, who is likely to get three matches against South Africa to prove his worth before the Indian team management switches to a ‘Plan B’ ahead of the T20 World Cup, starting in six weeks.
As India gear up to play the third T20I against the Proteas on Sunday in sub-10-degree temperatures in the lap of the ice-clad Dhauladhar range, things are suddenly heating up in the Indian dressing room, with the prolonged poor form of skipper Suryakumar Yadav coming under the scanner.
ALSO READ: South Africa level series after de Kock special; Gill, SKY misfire again
Worse, his deputy Shubman Gill, who was pushed into the XI at the expense of a settled Sanju Samson, is not inspiring much confidence.
The South African pace attack featuring Anrich Nortje, Marco Jansen, Lungi Ngidi, Ottniel Baartman and Lutho Sipamla — has shown how to bowl on Indian tracks, and the HPCA Stadium strip, offering extra bounce and some movement off the surface, will certainly keep them interested.
Among all T20 sides, South Africa, in terms of personnel, appears to have the requisite balance to win the trophy in the Indian subcontinent this time. Quinton de Kock’s return, along with the likes of Aiden Markram, Dewald Brevis, Donovan Ferreira, David Miller and all-rounder Jansen, gives their batting an intimidating look.
With only eight games, starting from the third T20I, left before the start of the T20 World Cup title defence, India's under-fire head coach Gautam Gambhir won't be able to afford, two out-of-form top-order batters in the starting line-up.
Being the skipper of the side, Surya will certainly have immunity going into the T20 World Cup despite being completely out of form for the past one year but same can't be said about Gill, who wasn't the original choice as an opener.
Gill's entry into the T20 set-up was a classic case of trying to fix something that ain't broken and things haven't looked good so far.
In this backdrop, Gill would need to bat out of his skin to prove that Ajit Agarkar-led committee wasn't wrong in throwing Samson under the bus for one bad series against England.
The stylish Indian Test and ODI skipper will have to find his T20 game and at least score in two of the three matches if he doesn't want Samson to get his rightful place back or for that matter, find Yashasvi Jaiswal, with a fabulous T20I strike-rate of 165, enter the fray during New Zealand series.
Lack of clarity
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While head coach Gambhir is too proud a person to admit but sending Axar Patel as a one drop batter during the second T20I was a "tactical brain fade" from the team's think-tank.
The kind misstep that was taken with Axar's promotion is unlikely to be repeated in the third game where skipper is expected to go back to No.3 where he has got a lot of success in his first few years at the international level.
Similarly, Shivam Dube being sent at number eight due to the shuffling of batting order was another poor call which would need course correction in the next game.
Is there a place for Kuldeep Yadav?
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Kuldeep Yadav is one bowler who has consistently troubled the Proteas batter but in an Indian team where batting till No. 8 is non-negotiable, the left-arm wrist spinner often finds himself getting the rough end of the stick.
At Dharamsala too, he might have to sit out as Kuldeep and Varun Chakravarthy, two non-batters can't be clubbed in the same T20 playing eleven as that would lead to compromise in batting depth.
While Arshdeep hasn't had a good series so far, it will be interesting to find if team management can find a place for Kuldeep in the playing eleven with Hardik Pandya sharing the new ball with Jasprit Bumrah.
The five-match series is currently tied 1-1.
Teams:
India: Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, NT Tilak Verma, Axar Patel, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Varun Chakravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Sanju Samson (wk), Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar.
South Africa: Aiden Markram (captain), Quinton de Kock, Reeza Hendricks, Dewald Brevis, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Donovan Ferreira, Marco Jansen, Lutho Sipamla, Ottniel Baartman, Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi, Corbin Bosch, Keshav Maharaj, George Linde.
Match Starts at 7 pm.
