First impeachment of Donald Trump

The first impeachment of Donald Trump, the 45th President of the United States, began on September 24, 2019, after a whistleblower alleged that Trump had pressured foreign leaders. The scandal was about Trump telling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Hunter Biden and his father Joe Biden, a former vice-president and a candidate for the 2020 presidential election. It ended on February 5, 2020.

House trial
The inquiry stage of Trump's impeachment lasted from September to November 2019. In October 2019, three Congressional committees (Intelligence, Oversight, and Foreign Affairs) deposed witnesses.

In November 2019, the House Intelligence Committee held a number of public hearings in which witnesses testified publicly. On December 3, the House Intelligence Committee voted 13–9 along party lines to adopt a final report.

A set of impeachment hearings before the Judiciary Committee began on December 4, 2019. On December 13, the House Judiciary Committee voted 23–17 along party lines to recommend two articles of impeachment: abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The Judiciary Committee also released a report on the articles of impeachment on December 16.

The first hearing, held on December 4, 2019, was an academic discussion on the definition of an impeachable offense. The witnesses invited by Democrats were law professors Noah Feldman from Harvard, Pamela S. Karlan from Stanford, and Michael Gerhardt from the University of North Carolina. Republicans invited Jonathan Turley, a constitutional scholar at George Washington University.

On December 18, the full House approved the articles of impeachment, making Trump the third president in U.S. history to be impeached.

House vote
+ Voting results on House Resolution 755(Articles of Impeachment Against President Donald J. Trump) Article I(Abuse of power) Article II(Obstruction of Congress) Yea Nay Present Yea Nay Present Democrat 229 2 1 Democrat 228 3 1 Republican 195 Republican 195 Independent 1 Independent 1 Total 230 197 1 Total 229 198 1 Adopted Adopted

Senate trial

On January 10, 2020, Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that she had "asked Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler to be prepared to bring to the Floor next week a resolution to appoint managers and transmit articles of impeachment to the Senate".

At the end of the January 21 session, the Senate voted along party lines to pass Mitch McConnell's proposed trial rules and reject 11 amendments proposed by Democrats. The prosecution's opening arguments and presentation of evidence took place between January 22–24. Trump's defense presentation began on January 25. The primary arguments were a lack of direct evidence of wrongdoing, and that Democrats were attempting to use the impeachment to steal the 2020 election. Under the U.S. Constitution, a two-thirds majority of the Senate is required to convict the president.

Verdict
On February 5, 2020 the Senate acquitted Trump on both count. The votes were 52-48 to acquit on the first count and 53-47 to acquit on the second count.

+ Voting results Article I(Abuse of power) Article II(Obstruction of Congress) Guilty Not guilty Guilty Not guilty Democratic 45 0 Democratic 45 0 Republican 1 52 Republican 0 53 Independent  0 Independent  0 Totals 48 52 Totals 47 53 Not guilty Not guilty

Public approval polling
+ Polling of support for the impeachment and removal of Trump from office among Americans Poll source Date(s) administered Sample size Margin of error Support Oppose Undecided YouGov/Yahoo! NewsDec 4–61500± 2.8%47%39%16% Monmouth University Dec 4–8 903 ± 3.3%45% 50% 5% Fox News Dec 8–11 1000 ± 3%50% 41% 5% NPR / PBS NewsHour / MaristDec 9–111508± 3.5%46%49%5% USA Today / SuffolkDec 10–141000± 3% 45% 50%5% Quinnipiac UniversityDec 11–151390± 4.1% 45% 51%4% CNN / SSRSDec 12–15888± 3.7%45%48%9%

Related pages
 Second impeachment of Donald Trump

Notes

References

Category:December 2019 events
Category:January 2020 events
Category:February 2020 events
Category:2019 in the United States
Category:Presidency of Donald Trump
Donald Trump
Category:2020 controversies
Category:Controversies in the United States