众议院议长南希·佩洛西周四迈出了非同寻常的一步，宣布她将指示众议院推进针对美国总统的弹劾条款。

“可悲的是，但怀着自信和谦卑，忠诚于我们的创始人和对美国充满热爱的心，今天，我要求我们的主席继续进行弹劾条款，”这位加州民主党人在美国国会大厦发表简短的公开声明时说。“我赞扬我们的委员会主席和成员采取严肃的态度，采取了我希望总统没有必要采取的行动。”

她引用唐纳德·特朗普总统在乌克兰丑闻中被指控的不当行为，指控他通过干涉美国选举违反了他的就职誓言，并滥用了他的权力。

佩洛西继续说:“总统滥用权力，破坏我们的国家安全，损害我们选举的完整性。”。“他的行为违背了我们建国者的愿景和他为维护、保护和捍卫美国宪法所做的就职宣誓。”

议长的指示明确表示，她认为她的核心小组绝大多数成员准备公开投票弹劾总统。众议院民主党人以极快的速度进行弹劾调查，所有迹象都指向年底前通过条款的议院。

特朗普在一系列推文中回应道，“什么都不做，激进的左翼民主党人”正试图“无缘无故弹劾我”

“他们已经放弃了荒谬的穆勒‘东西’，所以现在他们把帽子挂在两个完全合适(完美)的电话上，与乌克兰总统通话，”他继续说道。“这将意味着超越重要和很少使用的弹劾行为将被例行用来攻击未来的总统。这不是我们创始人的想法。好消息是共和党从未如此团结。我们会赢的！”

激进左翼民主党人“无所事事”刚刚宣布，他们将寻求无所事事地弹劾我。他们已经放弃了荒谬的穆勒“东西”，所以现在他们把帽子挂在两个完全合适的(完美的)与乌克兰总统的电话上....

——唐纳德·特朗普2019年12月5日

在佩洛西发言之前，特朗普在另一系列推文中敦促众议院“现在，快”弹劾他

白宫新闻秘书斯蒂芬妮·格里森也加入了社交媒体平台。

“。@SpeakerPelosi &民主党应该感到羞耻，”她写道。“@现实唐纳德·特朗普除了领导我们的国家什么也没做——带来繁荣的经济、更多的就业机会和更强大的军队，这只是他的几项主要成就。我们期待参议院的公平审判。”

众议院将起草多少篇文章尚未确定。佩洛西建议几个委员会将参与这个过程，她指示“主席”进行弹劾。一般来说，起草条款是众议院司法委员会的责任。

据司法委员会称，周一，司法和情报委员会多数和少数工作人员的律师将在公开听证会上向司法人员介绍弹劾证据。

佩洛西宣布了这一消息她发起正式弹劾调查72天后，一天后司法机构举行了首次弹劾听证会以四名法律学者为特色，他们证明他们是否相信根据宪法，总统犯了可弹劾的罪行。在诉讼过程中，民主党人表示，他们正在考虑弹劾的三个主要条款，每一个都在房间的电视屏幕上反复播放:滥用权力和贿赂、阻挠国会和妨碍司法公正。

民主党召集的三位教授都表示支持弹劾，依据特朗普在乌克兰的处理方式和证据显示，特朗普在拒绝美国军事援助的同时，向乌克兰同行施压，要求调查拜登夫妇，滥用权力，并试图行贿。证人作证说，在整个弹劾调查过程中，他阻挠国会，并可能根据米勒的报告阻挠司法公正。

“如果我们正在谈论的是不可弹劾的，那么没有什么是不可弹劾的，”迈克尔·葛哈德争辩道，他是北卡罗来纳大学法学院的教授，民主党称他为他们的证人之一。

然而，唯一的共和党证人乔治·华盛顿法学院教授乔纳森·特利却不这么认为。他说民主党在调查中进展太快，应该设法迫使更多的政府证人在国会作证，以进一步建立弹劾案。

“对乌克兰丑闻的调查——我认为这是合法的调查。我不情愿的是它是如何进行的，”特利说。

“我担心降低弹劾标准，以适应证据的缺乏和愤怒的增加，”他补充道。“如果众议院仅仅依据乌克兰的指控进行，这一弹劾将在现代弹劾中脱颖而出，成为最短的程序，证据记录最薄，弹劾总统的依据也最狭窄。”

这篇报道被更新为包括特朗普的推文和众议院司法委员会的附加信息。

 

PELOSI DIRECTS HOUSE TO DRAFT IMPEACHMENT ARTICLES AGAINST TRUMP: 'IN AMERICA, NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW'

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi took the extraordinary step Thursday to announce that she's directing the chamber to move forward with articles of impeachment against the president of the United States.

"Sadly, but with confidence and humility, with allegiance to our founders and a heart full of love for America, today, I'm asking our chairmen to proceed with articles of impeachment," the California Democrat said from the U.S. Capitol during a brief on-camera statement made outside her office. "I commend our committee chairs and our members for their somber approach to actions which I wish the president had not made necessary."

Citing President Donald Trump's alleged wrongdoing with the Ukraine scandal, she accused him of violating his oath of office by interfering in a U.S. election and of abusing his power.

"The president has engaged in abuse of power undermining our national security and jeopardizing the integrity of our elections," Pelosi continued. "His actions are in defiance of the vision of our founders and the oath of office that he takes to preserve, protect and defend the constitution of the United States."

The speaker's directive made it clear that she believes the overwhelming majority of her caucus is ready to go on the record and vote to impeach the president. House Democrats conducted their impeachment inquiry at a breakneck pace, and all signs pointed toward the chamber passing articles before the year's end.

Trump responded in a series of tweets, writing that the "Do Nothing, Radical Left Democrats" are trying to "Impeach me over NOTHING."

"They already gave up on the ridiculous Mueller 'stuff,' so now they hang their hats on two totally appropriate (perfect) phone calls with the Ukrainian President," he continued. "This will mean that the beyond important and seldom used act of Impeachment will be used routinely to attack future Presidents. That is not what our Founders had in mind. The good thing is that the Republicans have NEVER been more united. We will win!"

The Do Nothing, Radical Left Democrats have just announced that they are going to seek to Impeach me over NOTHING. They already gave up on the ridiculous Mueller “stuff,” so now they hang their hats on two totally appropriate (perfect) phone calls with the Ukrainian President....

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 5, 2019

Before Pelosi's remarks, Trump urged the House in another series of tweets to impeach him "now, fast."

White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham also chimed in on the social media platform.

".@SpeakerPelosi & the Democrats should be ashamed," she wrote. "@realDonaldTrump has done nothing but lead our country - resulting in a booming economy, more jobs & a stronger military, to name just a few of his major accomplishments. We look forward to a fair trial in the Senate."

How many articles the House will draft has yet to be determined. Pelosi suggested several committees will be involved in the process, and she directed "chairmen" to proceed with impeachment. Typically, the drafting of articles would be the House Judiciary Committee's responsibility.

On Monday, counsels for the majority and minority staff of the Judiciary and Intelligence Committees will give Judiciary members a presentation of impeachment evidence in a public hearing, according to the Judiciary Committee.

Pelosi's announcement came 72 days after she launched an official impeachment inquiry, and one day after Judiciary held its first impeachment hearing featuring four legal scholars who testified whether they believed, under the constitution, the president has committed impeachable offenses. During the proceeding, Democrats signaled they were considering three main articles of impeachment, each of which they repeatedly displayed on TV screens in the room: abuse of power and bribery, obstruction of Congress and obstruction of justice.

All three of the professors called by Democrats spoke in favor of impeachment, based on Trump's Ukraine handlings and evidence that suggests Trump abused his power and committed attempted bribery when he pressured his Ukrainian counterpart to investigate the Bidens while withholding U.S. military aid. He then obstructed Congress throughout the impeachment inquiry, the witnesses testified, and likely obstructed justice based on the Mueller report.

"If what we're talking about is not impeachable, then nothing is impeachable," argued Michael Gerhardt, a University of North Carolina Law School professor whom Democrats called as one of their witnesses.

However, the lone Republican witness, George Washington Law School professor Jonathan Turley, believed otherwise. He said the Democrats were moving too fast in their investigation and should seek to compel additional administration witnesses to testify before Congress to further build their case for impeachment.

"The investigation of the Ukraine scandal—I think it was a legitimate investigation. What I begrudge is how it was conducted," Turley said.

"I am concerned about lowering impeachment standards to fit a paucity of evidence and an abundance of anger," he added. "If the House proceeds solely on the Ukrainian allegations, this impeachment would stand out among modern impeachments as the shortest proceeding, with the thinnest evidentiary record, and the narrowest grounds ever used to impeach a president."

This story was updated to include tweets from Trump and additional information from the House Judiciary Committee.