House impeachment report finds ‘overwhelming’ evidence Trump abused office

WASHINGTON — Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee on Tuesday released the report of their two-month investigation into President Donald Trump’s conduct toward Ukraine, concluding that “the evidence of the President’s misconduct is overwhelming.”

Not only did Trump improperly pressure Ukraine in an effort to extract political favors, the report says, but he also obstructed the congressional investigation of his actions.

“It would be hard to imagine a stronger or more complete case of obstruction than that demonstrated by the President since the inquiry began,” the report says.

The damage to the constitutional system of separation of powers will be long-lasting and potentially irrevocable if the President’s ability to stonewall Congress goes unchecked,” the report said. “Any future President will feel empowered to resist an investigation into their own wrongdoing, malfeasance, or corruption, and the result will be a nation at far greater risk of all three.”

The committee’s Democratic majority is expected to approve the report later Tuesday, forwarding it to the Judiciary Committee, which will be charged with drafting formal articles of impeachment.

The chairpersons of the three committees that worked on the investigations said Congress would have to decide whether the actions they describe in the report are impeachable.

“It will be up to the Congress to determine whether these acts rise to the level of an impeachable offense, whether the President shall be held to account, and whether we as a nation are committed to the rule of law — or, instead, whether a president who uses the power of his office to coerce foreign interference in a U.S. election is something that Americans must simply ‘get over,’” they said in a statement accompanying the report.