The Impeachment Report: The House Intelligence Committee's Report on Its Investigation into Donald Trump and Ukraine

The Impeachment of the President is all the news recently, and most everybody has strong opinions on the matter, based, no doubt, on which media outlets they follow. Deciding which point of view is most credible isn't easy. One can find support for the President's point of view on Conservative talk radio and media, and for the Democrat's point of view in their outlets.

The only in-depth source of information to understand the basis of the Articles of Impeachment which I could find is the House Impeachment Report itself. However, the Report IS NOT written in a clear, concise narrative manner. It's a government report, a legal report, with many, many repetitive sections. The same pertinent facts are repeated in the testimony of many of show more the witnesses, and since the report isn't a summary or simplified analysis, the report can get repetitive and mind numbing. But given the significance of the impeachment hearings and its historical importance, it's well worth the investment in time to review "The Impeachment Report: The House Intelligence Committee's Report on Its Investigation Into Donald Trump and Ukraine". The Report details its findings of its investigation into the President's dealings with Ukraine, the related National Security implications of withholding military aid to Ukraine, and any potential obstruction of justice during the review of those actions.

At the heart of the impeachment case is that President Trump withheld Congressionally approved military aid from Ukraine, even though Ukraine needed it to combat Russian military aggression. The President also continued to delay a promised White House meeting until and unless Ukrainian President Zelenskiy made a public announcement that he would initiate an investigation of former vice-president Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden, intending to weaken a political opponent. President Trump also wanted a Ukrainian investigation into Putin's claim that Ukrainians, not Russians, interfered in the 2016 presidential election. That's despite the fact that our intelligence agencies, and even the Republican Senate investigations conclusively blamed Russia.

President Trump has argued that then Vice-President Joe Biden acted improperly in pressuring Ukraine to remove its top prosecutor. Trump claims that Biden applied pressure in order to thwart an investigation into a company tied to his son, Hunter Biden. However, all other sources, including European Union members, former Obama administration officials, and Ukrainian anti-corruption advocates say the Prosecutor was ousted for the opposite reason. According to Ukrainian officials, the EU, and four former American officials involved in Europe and Ukraine, the Prosecutor was removed because he WAS NOT pursuing corruption among the country's politicians. His inaction prompted international calls for his ouster, and Biden's urging for the Prosecutor's removal was consistent with EU and U.S. judgment and policy. The result is that he was ultimately removed by Ukraine's parliament.

This discussion is all contained in The House Intelligence Committee Impeachment Report. The Report provides the backup, analysis, and testimony backing up the Articles of Impeachment. The evidence presented was obtained despite the fact that President Trump has prohibited his staff from cooperating with the impeachment inquiry or providing any of the requested records.

The United States has held impeachment hearings involving Presidential wrongdoings three times in the past, and all branches of government seemed to understand that the House has a Constitutional right to conduct such hearings, and the Senate has a Constitutional duty to uphold or dismiss the Impeachment findings. Presidents Johnson, Nixon and Clinton, for the most part, allowed the investigations to be held and allowed staff members to testify in House hearings. President Trump feels otherwise, and has instructed Executive staff members to not cooperate with these hearings, to not testify, and to not provide transcripts or records to the House. This may or may not be outright obstruction of Congress from doing something granted by the Constitution, but if it's not obstruction, the lawyers will have to redefine it. But by not cooperating, this became one of the Articles of Impeachment against the president. Had requested documents and emails been provided, and if former Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney and former National Security Adviser John Bolton testified as initially requested by the House, Democrats feel that their case would have been stronger. Nonetheless, 17 witnesses did testify in the impeachment hearings, providing the basis for the impeachment articles.

It's safe to say with such a polarized Congress, that the Articles of Impeachment will not be supported by the Senate, and President Trump is safe from being removed from office. However, reading the Report does at least give the reader an understanding of the issues, which are difficult to understand based solely on 30-second clips from nightly TV news. show less