Trump news: President rages against Pelosi after she orders Congress to draw up articles of impeachment
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Your support makes all the difference.House speaker Nancy Pelosi has ordered the House to draw up articles of impeachment against Donald Trump over the Ukraine scandal.
“The facts are uncontested. The president abused power for his personal benefit at the expense of national security by withholding military aid and crucial Oval Office meeting in exchange for an announcement of an investigation into his political rival,” she said at a short press conference on Capitol Hill.
Her announcement followed Wednesday’s combative seven-hour House Judiciary Committee hearing at which three academic legal experts agreed that Mr Trump’s apparent attempt to extort a quid pro quo from Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky met the standard for impeachment in a fiery session defined by Republican obstruction and bickering.
Later, Ms Pelosi snapped at a reporter during her weekly press conference, when asked by him if she hates the president.
Citing her Catholic religion, Ms Pelosi said she does not hate anybody, and told the reporter not to test her on the issue.
Another Democrat in completely different circumstances also had a moment in which he snapped, when Joe Biden called an Iowa voter a "damn liar" over a question about his son Hunter and Ukraine.
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Speaker tweets Trump's actions ' in defiance of visions of our founders' as Judiciary Republican lashes out
Pelosi has offered some further explanation for her decision to press ahead with impeachment on Twitter.
Doug Collins, the ranking Republican on the House Judiciary Committee who did so much to frustrate yesterday's proceedings, has this response.
President rages at Pelosi announcement, warns impeachment will be 'used routinley to attack future presidents'
Here's Trump's inevitable - and rather desperate - response to the Speaker.
Kellyanne Conway on the warpath
While all that excitement was going on, Kellyanne Conway has been on the warpath this morning, appearing on Fox and Friends to attack Pamela Karlan over her Barron Trump remark and Justin Trudeau for laughing at Trump.
The Canadian PM is just jealous because her boss "commands a room", she says.
She has also been speaking to reporters, assuring them Team Trump is ready for a trial and defending Rudy Giuliani's call records as featured in Adam Schiff's damning new report.
How does impeachment work?
Here's a beginner's guide to the process as Nancy Pelosi formally asks the House to get on work on compiling a charge sheet against Trump, answering six key questions.
AOC, Bernie Sanders urge UK to safeguard NHS
Away from impeachment briefly, AOC and Bernie Sanders have told British voters to "cherish and protect" the NHS as Trump and America's drug companies circle it, smelling blood with a general election looming.
Pelosi says Trump's offences 'are about Russia, not Ukraine' and scolds reporter who asks if she hates president
The speaker has been back in front of the cameras to give her weekly press conference. She says her announcement is about the Constitution, not partisan party politics, and says the president's withholding military aid from Ukraine ultimately benefited Russia: "All roads lead to Putin."
She also reacted angrily when one reporter - James Rosen of Sinclair TV - asked her if she "hated" the president.
"I think the president is a coward when it comes to helping our kids who are afraid of gun violence," she said. "I think he is cruel when he doesn't deal with helping our Dreamers. I think he's in denial about the climate crisis."
“I don't hate anybody… As a Catholic, I resent your using the word hate in a sentence that addresses me. I don't hate anyone… So, don't mess with me when it comes to words like that."
Here's the latest.
House announces next impeachment hearing
The House Judiciary Committee has announced it will be holding a new session on the morning of Monday 9 December to review counsel presentations of the evidence against Donald Trump.
Be there or be square.
Trump accuses Pelosi of suffering 'nervous fit'
The president is already trolling the speaker over her angry reaction to that question from a right-wing journalist.
House minority leader haunted by 2016 broadside on Trump and Putin
California congressman Kevin McCarthy is currently giving his response to Pelosi and has likewise been caught out by a question he disliked from a reporter. "That's embarrassing that you would even ask that," he says after being confronted about a remark he made in 2016 about Trump being in the pocket of Vladimir Putin.
Former secretary of State John Kerry has endorsed Joe Biden to be the Democratic nominee in 2020. Here's his statement, provided by the Biden campaign:
“I believe Joe Biden is the President our country desperately needs right now, not because I’ve known Joe so long, but because I know Joe so well. I’ve never before seen the world more in need of someone who on day one can begin the incredibly hard work of putting back together the world Donald Trump has smashed apart. There’s never been a time more urgent for leadership at home that can work for the middle class and tackle existential issues like climate change where we are moving dangerously backwards. Joe is uniquely the person running for president who can beat Donald Trump and get to work on day one at home and in the world with no time to waste.
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