Dear Commons Community,

Speaker Nancy Pelosi has upped the ante in the impeachment case against President Trump, accusing the president of committing bribery when he withheld vital military assistance from Ukraine at the same time he was seeking its commitment to publicly investigate his political rivals. Her comments came yesterday after the first public impeachment hearing on Wednesday. As reported by the New York Times.

“The devastating testimony corroborated evidence of bribery uncovered in the inquiry, and that the president abused his power and violated his oath by threatening to withhold military aid and a White House meeting in exchange for an investigation into his political rival — a clear attempt by the president to give himself an advantage in the 2020 election,” Ms. Pelosi told reporters at her weekly news conference in the Capitol.

The speaker’s explicit allegation of bribery, a misdeed specifically identified in the Constitution as an impeachable offense, was significant. Even as Ms. Pelosi said that no final decision had been made on whether to impeach Mr. Trump, it suggested that Democrats were moving toward a more specific set of charges that could be codified in articles of impeachment in the coming weeks. It also indicated that Democrats were working to put a simple name to the president’s alleged wrongdoing that would resonate with the public.”

This sounds like a smart move by Pelosi!

Tony

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