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As it happenedended

Trump news : President attacks Congress members as they prepare for impeachment vote, after mocking teen activist Greta Thunberg

House of Representatives prepares to vote to remove Trump from office next week

Pastor Robert Jeffress praises Donald Trump at White House Hanukkah event

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Donald Trump is set to face impeachment in the House of Representatives, becoming the fourth president in US history to face removal from office on charges of misconduct after the House Judiciary Committee'prepares to send articles of impeachment to the full Congress.

The full House is expected to vote on impeachment next week.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she doesn't plan to whip votes to support impeachment, saying that House leadership won't pressure Democrats in vulnerable districts or moderate Democrats fearing political fallout from supporting efforts to remove the president from office.

She said: "We are not whipping this legislation, nor do we ever whip something like this. People have to come to their own conclusions. They've seen the facts as presented ... They'll make their own decision. I don't say anything to them."

Meanwhile, the president had an explosive day on Twitter, including an attack on teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg after she was named TIME magazine’s Person of the Year ahead of him as the committee prepared to resume its debate over articles of impeachment threatening to end his presidency.

“So ridiculous. Greta must work on her Anger Management problem, then go to a good old fashioned movie with a friend! Chill Greta, Chill!” the president wrote on Twitter.

The president's campaign also shared a photo of the TIME cover with Mr Trump's face superimposed over the teenage climate activist.

Mr Trump also faced criticism for hosting notoriously antisemitic Texan pastor Robert Jeffress at his White House Hanukkah party, a man who once claimed Jews would go to hell and that Mr Trump’s impeachment would cause a “Civil War-like fracture” in American society.

Follow along developments as they happened.

Democrat Hank Johnson takes a thinly veiled swipe at Matt Gaetz before going back to the subject at hand, asking Republicans whether it’s okay for a US president to invite a foreign entity to interfere in an election. 

“The pot calling the kettle black is something we shouldn’t do. I don’t know what members have had issues with substance abuse, been busted with DUI … but if I did, I wouldn’t raise it against anyone in this committee, it’s not proper”, he said. 

Chris Riotta12 December 2019 17:09

Here's the full controversial quote from Matt Gaetz that will likely stir backlash long after today's proceedings are over: "I don't want to make light of anybody's substance abuse issues...but it's a little hard to believe that Burisma hired Hunter Biden to resolve their intl disputes when he could not resolve his own dispute with Hertz...over leaving cocaine and a crack pipe in the car."

Chris Riotta12 December 2019 17:31

And here's video of the moment Matt Gaetz attacks Hunter Biden over his drug addiction issues:

Chris Riotta12 December 2019 17:36

Democrat Maria Escobar expertly struck down the Republican defence of Donald Trump never having actually said the terms like "quid pro quo" while demanding political investigations from Ukraine. 

Chris Riotta12 December 2019 17:45

Matt Gaetz is back to slamming Hunter Biden, bringing up his divorce and ties to Chinese businessmen.

Chris Riotta12 December 2019 17:46

Republican Jim Jordan has tweeted his own defence of Donald Trump as the House Judiciary Committee debates the articles of impeachment against the president - 

Chris Riotta12 December 2019 17:53

The House Judiciary Committee is now taking a recess and will be back shortly. We'll bring you live updates as they come in.

Chris Riotta12 December 2019 18:02

Here's Democrat Hakeem Jeffries laying out the case for impeachment during today's hearing: 

Chris Riotta12 December 2019 18:25

Just hours after Donald Trump railed against “scum” FBI agents during a campaign rant against “deep state” conspiracies, a Justice Department internal watchdog rebutted the president’s claims that an investigation into his campaign was politically motivated.

Justice Department inspector general Michael Horowitz testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee about the watchdog’s findings outlined in a 400-page report looking into an FBI investigation of Russian influence in the president’s 2016 campaign.

The watchdog’s report found no “documentary or testimonial evidence that political bias or improper motivation influenced the FBI’s decision to conduct these operations”, which included the FBI’s applications to surveil a former member of Mr Trump’s presidential campaign.

Chris Riotta12 December 2019 18:40

We are still waiting on lawmakers to return to the House Judiciary Committee proceedings after a recess was called for lunch. 

In the meantime, Donald Trump has been retweeting the Republican members of the committee who sought to defend him during today's markup hearings: 

Chris Riotta12 December 2019 19:15

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