By Dayo Benson
Donald Trump has become the third US president in history to be impeached by the House of Representatives, setting up a trial in the Senate that will decide whether he remains in office.
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After an intensely partisan debate that lasted almost 11 hours, Democrats Wednesday night by 230 votes to Republicans 197 votes impeached President Donald John Trump, on the first Article of Impeachment: Abuse of Power.
On the second Article of Impeachment: Obstruction of Congress, Trump was also impeached by Democrats’ majority votes of 229 to Republicans 198.
With the impeachment, Trump who assumed office in January 2016 as the United States 45th President made history as the third incumbent to be impeached.
In a swift reaction from his campaign rally in Michigan, President Trump dismissed the impeachment, accusing Democrats of declaring war on American democracy. He insisted that he did nothing wrong, saying “we still have tremendous support among the Republicans.”
Two Democrats broke ranks and voted No alongside Republicans in the first article, while three Democrats voted against the party in the second article.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi at a media briefing after the gruelling process defended the Democrats’ action in upholding the constitution and discharging their duty.
Pelosi thanked the six House committee chairmen who made the impeachment possible.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, said they hoped to get a fair trial at the Senate.
Pelosi pointed out that the House leadership would neither name their managers nor make the articles of impeachment documents available to the Senate until they were sure of the direction the Senate would go.
Being impeached places Donald Trump alongside only two other presidents in the nation’s history – Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton – and sets up a trial in the Senate for his presidency.