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As it happenedended

Trump impeachment: House impeaches president in historic vote along party lines

Follow the latest updates, as it happened

Clark Mindock,Andrew Feinberg,Joe Sommerlad
Thursday 19 December 2019 03:04 GMT
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Nancy Pelosi opens impeachment debate

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The House has voted to impeach Donald Trump, making him the third president in American history to receive such a censure.

After roughly eight hours of debate, the House of Representatives gathered to vote and ultimately charged him with abusing the power of his office by attempting to extort a political favour from Ukraine. The House then voted on a second article of impeachment, approving formal charges that Mr Trump had obstructed Congress during the subsequent congressional investigation into his conduct.

The Senate will now take up the approved impeachment articles in the new year.

Defiant as ever, Mr Trump walked onstage at a rally in Michigan just as the House began voting — and was bragging about his Space Force and mocking stock market jitters as the first article of impeachement was approved. Before it became official, as the vote crept towards approving the first article of impeachment, Mr Trump was interrupted by a protester, who he suggested was treated too well by security forces — and that they should have been tougher on her.

Before the vote and rally, Washington Post columnist David Ignatius described a letter sent by Mr Trump to House speaker Nancy Pelosi on Tuesday as “the most unpresidential presidential document ever written” on MSNBC’s Morning Joe after rallies backing the impeachment process were held in cities across the country on Tuesday evening.

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Here's the update on how much time each side has left:

Democrats: 2:02

Republicans: 2:03

Clark Mindock18 December 2019 19:34

AOC responds:

Clark Mindock18 December 2019 19:37

The White House isn't content to merely coordinate trial strategy with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Politico's Burgess Everett reports that Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway has been meeting with Republican senators about why President Trump should be acquitted of the charges the House is poised to vote on.

Andrew Feinberg18 December 2019 19:39

Fox News host  Andrew Napolitano recently penned the following, published in a conservative news outlet:

Clark Mindock18 December 2019 19:53

Rep. Al Green is now speaking in favor of impeachment. He has been pushing for Mr Trump to be impeached since 2017.

Andrew Feinberg18 December 2019 19:59

Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib, who in January promised Democrats would “impeach the motherf*cker,” says she is voting for impeachment “for my sons and the future”.

Andrew Feinberg18 December 2019 20:01

Clark Mindock18 December 2019 20:03

In case you've forgotten that Trump is holding a rally just this evening:

Clark Mindock18 December 2019 20:05

Some nice resurfaced footage of Trump wishing Pelosi would've impeached George W Bush over the Iraq War:

Clark Mindock18 December 2019 20:10

Alright, new time remaining figures:

Republicans: 1.44

Democrats: 1.47

Clark Mindock18 December 2019 20:14

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