Engel writes history with impeachment

U.S. Rep. Eliot Engel, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, joined his fellow chairs to introduce articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump on Tuesday.

“Three months after three House committees launched an investigation into the Trump-Ukraine scandal, the facts we have gathered are damning and uncontested,” Engel said, in a statement.

“The president abused the power of his office and jeopardized our national security to solicit foreign election interference, corrupt our democracy, and cheat in the 2020 election. The president employed a shadow foreign policy and leveraged a coveted Oval Office meeting and critical security assistance to pressure the government of Ukraine to smear his political rival.

“And from the moment we began to peel back the layers of this scheme, the president took unprecedented steps to obstruct the exercise of the Congress’ constitutional responsibility.”

In the impeachment articles, Congress looks to charge Trump with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress over his push last summer to convince new Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy to investigate the son of former vice president Joe Biden.

Biden is one of the leading candidates in the race for the Democratic nomination for president — a candidate who could ultimately face off with Trump in the 2020 election.

“None of us want to be here,” Engel said, “but the president’s actions and our oath to the Constitution demand that we hold him accountable. If we don’t act, I fear that he will continue abusing his power at the expense of American security and American democracy.”