

What impeachment charges may Trump face?

The US House Judiciary Committee is expected to vote as soon as this week to recommend formal impeachment charges against President Donald Trump ahead of a full vote by the Democratic-led House of Representatives possibly next week.
If impeached, as expected, Trump would face a trial in the Senate, which is controlled by his own Republican Party.
Here are some charges Trump might face.
Democrats launched an investigation in September focused on Trump's request for Ukraine to conduct investigations that might benefit him politically and harm former Vice President Joe Biden, a leading contender for the Democratic nomination in the November 2020 presidential election.
Trump administration officials told public congressional hearings that the White House held up nearly $400 million in security aid to Ukraine to pressure its president to announce the investigations Trump wanted.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi re-framed Trump's conduct as bribery during a November news conference after weeks of Democrats referring to Trump's conduct as "quid pro quo," Latin for an exchange of favours.
"The bribe is to grant or withhold military assistance in return for a public statement of a fake investigation into the elections," Pelosi said. "That's bribery."
Bribery is one of two impeachable offences specifically mentioned in the US Constitution.
The Constitution states that a president can be impeached for "Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanours."
Some legal experts have argued that rather than charge Trump with bribery based on his Ukraine dealings, House Democrats should frame his conduct more broadly as abuse of power.
Political bribery is a narrowly defined crime under US law, and Trump's fellow Republicans are likely to argue that Democrats cannot prove that Trump committed that offence.
Many legal experts have said impeachment is a political process, not a court proceeding, and that House Democrats are not required to adopt the definition of bribery in the US criminal code.
House Democrats have argued that Trump obstructed their impeachment investigation by refusing to provide documents and instructing top advisers and government officials not to testify.
Some House Democrats have sought to focus narrowly on Ukraine; others have argued that Trump should also be impeached based on a 448-page report completed in March by former Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
Mueller detailed Russian interference in the 2016 election, through a campaign of hacking and propaganda, as well as contacts between Trump's campaign and Moscow.
Mueller's report, released in redacted form in April, cited about 10 instances in which Trump acted to impede the investigation.
Both Trump and Russia deny meddling in that election.
© AAP 2021

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