On September 24th, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi announced that Donald Trump, the President of the United States, will be impeached. If the articles of impeachment are filed, this will be the third time in history that the president has had to go through this process. Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton were impeached but both were acquitted by the Senate. 

The impeachment centers around Trump having made a suspicious call on September 25th to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, a call that was later tipped off to the authorities by an informant known as the “whistleblower.” The call consisted of Trump telling President Zelensky that he should be investigating Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden. The call was executed a quid pro quo manner. “The actions taken to date by the president have seriously violated the Constitution,” Ms. Pelosi said. She also added that Trump “must be held accountable—no one is above the law.”

When a president is sworn into office, he swears under oath that he will preserve and protect all rights granted under the Constitution. The Democratic party has made it abundantly clear that Trump has not not upheld this responsibility as president. After the 2018 midterm elections, it became more feasible to carry out impeachment because of the recent Democratic takeover in the House of Representatives. House leader Kevin McCarthy said, “ [Democrats] have been trying to reverse the results of the 2016 election since President Trump took office.” All the accusations started when Trump’s phone conversation with the Ukrainian leader morphed into a way to investigate Hunter Biden. The transcript of the phone call that launched the investigation was later released by the White House. The transcript shows Trump clearly requesting a “favor” of Zelensky—to investigate Hunter Biden. 

Mike Pence also seems to have some involvement in the Ukraine dealing because of his latest meeting with Zelensky in early September. Trump sent Pence to the meeting in Warsaw instead of himself, thus putting Pence at the center of the allegations. Trump even went as far as to say that Democrats should also look into Pence’s conversation with Zelensky. “I think you should ask for Vice President Pence’s conversation because he had a couple conversations also,” Trump told reporters. Many White House officials are frustrated over the handling of the impeachment and the dragging of Pence into the mess.

President Trump’s attorney, Rudy Guliani, gave a packet of information to the White House, which was then given to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The contents consisted of unproven allegations regarding the Bidens. Some even went as far as to call it a folder containing propaganda. As of now, people are not sure where this folder originated, but it is supposed to resemble White House documents. 

The Democrats are determined to keep pushing for impeachment, but with the Republican-controlled Senate deciding if the case will lead to a trial, it will be difficult. It took Bill Clinton a year to be acquitted. Democrats are looking to impeach before they may have to give up the House majority in 2021. As of now, it is impossible to say what will happen, especially with the additional evidence that is piling up every day.