IV 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 755 

Impeaching Donald John Trump, President of the United States, for high 

crimes and misdemeanors. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 10, 2019 

Mr. NADLER submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

RESOLUTION 

Impeaching Donald John Trump, President of the United 

States, for high crimes and misdemeanors. 

1 Resolved, That Donald J. Trump, President of the 

2 United States, is impeached for high crimes and mis3 demeanors and that the following articles of impeachment 

4 be exhibited to the United States Senate: 

5 Articles of impeachment exhibited by the House of 

6 Representatives of the United States of America in the 

7 name of itself and of the people of the United States of 

8 America, against Donald J. Trump, President of the 

9 United States of America, in maintenance and support of 


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1 its impeachment against him for high crimes and mis2 demeanors. 

3 ARTICLE I: ABUSE OF POWER

4 The Constitution provides that the House of Rep5 resentatives ‘‘shall have the sole Power of Impeachment’’ 

6 and that the President ‘‘shall be removed from Office on 

7 Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or 

8 other high Crimes and Misdemeanors’’. In his conduct of 

9 the office of President of the United States—and in viola10 tion of his constitutional oath faithfully to execute the of11 fice of President of the United States and, to the best of 

12 his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution 

13 of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional 

14 duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed— 

15 Donald J. Trump has abused the powers of the Presi16 dency, in that: 

17 Using the powers of his high office, President Trump 

18 solicited the interference of a foreign government, 

19 Ukraine, in the 2020 United States Presidential election. 

20 He did so through a scheme or course of conduct that 

21 included soliciting the Government of Ukraine to publicly 

22 announce investigations that would benefit his reelection, 

23 harm the election prospects of a political opponent, and 

24 influence the 2020 United States Presidential election to 

25 his advantage. President Trump also sought to pressure 

26 the Government of Ukraine to take these steps by condiVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:17 Dec 10, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR755.IH HR755

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1 tioning official United States Government acts of signifi2 cant value to Ukraine on its public announcement of the 

3 investigations. President Trump engaged in this scheme 

4 or course of conduct for corrupt purposes in pursuit of 

5 personal political benefit. In so doing, President Trump 

6 used the powers of the Presidency in a manner that com7 promised the national security of the United States and 

8 undermined the integrity of the United States democratic 

9 process. He thus ignored and injured the interests of the 

10 Nation. 

11 President Trump engaged in this scheme or course 

12 of conduct through the following means: 

13 (1) President Trump—acting both directly and 

14 through his agents within and outside the United 

15 States Government—corruptly solicited the Govern16 ment of Ukraine to publicly announce investigations 

17 into— 

18 (A) a political opponent, former Vice Presi19 dent Joseph R. Biden, Jr.; and 

20 (B) a discredited theory promoted by Rus21 sia alleging that Ukraine—rather than Rus22 sia—interfered in the 2016 United States Pres23 idential election. 

24 (2) With the same corrupt motives, President 

25 Trump—acting both directly and through his agents 


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1 within and outside the United States Government— 

2 conditioned two official acts on the public announce3 ments that he had requested— 

4 (A) the release of $391 million of United 

5 States taxpayer funds that Congress had appro6 priated on a bipartisan basis for the purpose of 

7 providing vital military and security assistance 

8 to Ukraine to oppose Russian aggression and 

9 which President Trump had ordered suspended; 

10 and 

11 (B) a head of state meeting at the White 

12 House, which the President of Ukraine sought 

13 to demonstrate continued United States support 

14 for the Government of Ukraine in the face of 

15 Russian aggression. 

16 (3) Faced with the public revelation of his ac17 tions, President Trump ultimately released the mili18 tary and security assistance to the Government of 

19 Ukraine, but has persisted in openly and corruptly 

20 urging and soliciting Ukraine to undertake investiga21 tions for his personal political benefit. 

22 These actions were consistent with President 

23 Trump’s previous invitations of foreign interference in 

24 United States elections. 


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1 In all of this, President Trump abused the powers 

2 of the Presidency by ignoring and injuring national secu3 rity and other vital national interests to obtain an im4 proper personal political benefit. He has also betrayed the 

5 Nation by abusing his high office to enlist a foreign power 

6 in corrupting democratic elections. 

7 Wherefore President Trump, by such conduct, has 

8 demonstrated that he will remain a threat to national se9 curity and the Constitution if allowed to remain in office, 

10 and has acted in a manner grossly incompatible with self11 governance and the rule of law. President Trump thus 

12 warrants impeachment and trial, removal from office, and 

13 disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, 

14 trust, or profit under the United States. 

15 ARTICLE II: OBSTRUCTION OF CONGRESS

16 The Constitution provides that the House of Rep17 resentatives ‘‘shall have the sole Power of Impeachment’’ 

18 and that the President ‘‘shall be removed from Office on 

19 Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or 

20 other high Crimes and Misdemeanors’’. In his conduct of 

21 the office of President of the United States—and in viola22 tion of his constitutional oath faithfully to execute the of23 fice of President of the United States and, to the best of 

24 his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution 

25 of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional 

26 duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed— 


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1 Donald J. Trump has directed the unprecedented, categor2 ical, and indiscriminate defiance of subpoenas issued by 

3 the House of Representatives pursuant to its ‘‘sole Power 

4 of Impeachment’’. President Trump has abused the pow5 ers of the Presidency in a manner offensive to, and subver6 sive of, the Constitution, in that: 

7 The House of Representatives has engaged in an im8 peachment inquiry focused on President Trump’s corrupt 

9 solicitation of the Government of Ukraine to interfere in 

10 the 2020 United States Presidential election. As part of 

11 this impeachment inquiry, the Committees undertaking 

12 the investigation served subpoenas seeking documents and 

13 testimony deemed vital to the inquiry from various Execu14 tive Branch agencies and offices, and current and former 

15 officials. 

16 In response, without lawful cause or excuse, Presi17 dent Trump directed Executive Branch agencies, offices, 

18 and officials not to comply with those subpoenas. Presi19 dent Trump thus interposed the powers of the Presidency 

20 against the lawful subpoenas of the House of Representa21 tives, and assumed to himself functions and judgments 

22 necessary to the exercise of the ‘‘sole Power of Impeach23 ment’’ vested by the Constitution in the House of Rep24 resentatives. 


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1 President Trump abused the powers of his high office 

2 through the following means: 

3 (1) Directing the White House to defy a lawful 

4 subpoena by withholding the production of docu5 ments sought therein by the Committees. 

6 (2) Directing other Executive Branch agencies 

7 and offices to defy lawful subpoenas and withhold 

8 the production of documents and records from the 

9 Committees—in response to which the Department 

10 of State, Office of Management and Budget, Depart11 ment of Energy, and Department of Defense refused 

12 to produce a single document or record. 

13 (3) Directing current and former Executive 

14 Branch officials not to cooperate with the Commit15 tees—in response to which nine Administration offi16 cials defied subpoenas for testimony, namely John 

17 Michael ‘‘Mick’’ Mulvaney, Robert B. Blair, John A. 

18 Eisenberg, Michael Ellis, Preston Wells Griffith, 

19 Russell T. Vought, Michael Duffey, Brian McCor20 mack, and T. Ulrich Brechbuhl. 

21 These actions were consistent with President 

22 Trump’s previous efforts to undermine United States Gov23 ernment investigations into foreign interference in United 

24 States elections. 


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1 Through these actions, President Trump sought to 

2 arrogate to himself the right to determine the propriety, 

3 scope, and nature of an impeachment inquiry into his own 

4 conduct, as well as the unilateral prerogative to deny any 

5 and all information to the House of Representatives in the 

6 exercise of its ‘‘sole Power of Impeachment’’. In the his7 tory of the Republic, no President has ever ordered the 

8 complete defiance of an impeachment inquiry or sought 

9 to obstruct and impede so comprehensively the ability of 

10 the House of Representatives to investigate ‘‘high Crimes 

11 and Misdemeanors’’. This abuse of office served to cover 

12 up the President’s own repeated misconduct and to seize 

13 and control the power of impeachment—and thus to nul14 lify a vital constitutional safeguard vested solely in the 

15 House of Representatives. 

16 In all of this, President Trump has acted in a manner 

17 contrary to his trust as President and subversive of con18 stitutional government, to the great prejudice of the cause 

19 of law and justice, and to the manifest injury of the people 

20 of the United States. 

21 Wherefore, President Trump, by such conduct, has 

22 demonstrated that he will remain a threat to the Constitu23 tion if allowed to remain in office, and has acted in a man24 ner grossly incompatible with self-governance and the rule 

25 of law. President Trump thus warrants impeachment and 


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1 trial, removal from office, and disqualification to hold and 

2 enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United 

3 States. 

Æ 


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