US President Donald Trump has accused House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of "breaking all the rules" by holding on to the articles of impeachment instead of sending them to the Senate, saying that she has conducted "the most unfair trial in the history" of the United States Congress.
"Pelosi gives us the most unfair trial in the history of the U.S. Congress, and now she is crying for fairness in the Senate, and breaking all rules while doing so. She lost Congress once, she will do it again!" Trump tweeted on Monday.
Meanwhile, Pelosi hit back at Trump over his criticisms of the House impeachment process.
"The House cannot choose our impeachment managers until we know what sort of trial the Senate will conduct," she tweeted. "President Trump blocked his own witnesses and documents from the House, and from the American people, on phony complaints about the House process. What is his excuse now?"
Two days before speaking in Florida, Trump also blasted Pelosi for delaying sending the articles of impeachment to the Senate and claimed that Democrats had "no case" to impeach him.
Trump described Pelosi as "crazy Nancy," and said the House Democrats were pursuing an "illegal unconstitutional, and hyper-partisan impeachment."
"They really dont believe in democracy, they cant," Trump said. "They are violating the Constitution."
In a historic vote on Wednesday, the US House of Representatives impeached the Republican president on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, which stemmed from his pressure on Ukraine to investigate his political rivals as he withheld US aid. No Republicans voted in favor of the impeachment articles, while two Democrats voted against the first charge and three against the second.
Trump argued that the lack of defectors among the GOP shows that "the Republicans have never been so united" while the lack of consensus among Democrats is yet another indicator that their case "is so bad that they dont even want to go to trial!"
A two-thirds majority vote would be needed in the Senate to remove the president from office. With Republicans in control of the upper chamber, Trumps acquittal in a trial - scheduled to be held in January - seems certain.
House Democrats launched the inquiry against Trump in September after an unknown whistleblower alleged the Republican president pressured his Ukrainian counterpart to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter, who had served as a director for Ukrainian energy company Burisma.
McConnell: ‘Were at an impasse
Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Monday criticized Pelosi, saying he is in "no rush" for impeachment to go forward.
"The papers have to be physically brought over to the Senate, and we cant go forward until the speaker does that," he told Fox News.
"Do you think Chuck Schumer is impartial? Do you think Elizabeth Warren is impartial? Bernie Sanders is impartial? So lets quit the charade. This is a political exercise. ... All Im asking of Schumer is that we treat Trump the same way we treated [President] Clinton," McConnell said.
"[Pelosi] apparently believes that she can tell us how to run the trial," he added.
"Look, were at an impasse. We cant do anything until the Speaker sends the papers over, so everybody enjoy the holidays," he said.
"You know, Im not anxious to have this trial. So if she wants to hold onto the papers, go right ahead," he continued.
McConnell further said that Republicans were not opposed to hearing witnesses in the impeachment process.
"We havent ruled out witnesses," he added. "Weve said, Lets handle this case just like we did with President Clinton. Fair is fair."
LINK: https://www.ansarpress.com/english/12243
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