Political Intelligence Briefing.

TRUMP, Donald, 1946-; BIDEN, Joe, 1942-

In November 2019, an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump was in full swing in the United States. Going back to September 2019, following an official complaint by a whistleblower, President Donald Trump was under fire for abuse of power allegations. At issue were charges that he tried to compel Ukrainian President Zelensky to investigate his strongest 2020 election rival, former Vice President Joe Biden. The Trump administration's refusal to hand over the official complaint to Congress, as required by law, led to further accusations of obstruction. Citing national security concerns, Democrats in control of the United States House of Representatives thusly announced they would be officially launching an impeachment inquiry against the 45th president of the United States. The whistleblower's complaint was released on Sept. 26, 2019. Further dimensions in this unfolding abuse of power case were being revealed. Among them were the revelations that other countries and foreign officials were drawn into net as the president and his inner cadre apparently sought to use the office of the presidency to further his personal political agenda. By November 2019, the impeachment inquiry was going on with no shortage of diplomats and technocrats confirming an alarming trend by the Trump administration to leverage its power via foreign policy to advance the personal political prospects of the president. A vote in the House Intelligence committee took place on Dec. 3,2019. Action then moved to the House Judiciary committee on Dec. 5, 2019. Formal impeachment charges against the 45th president of the United States were unveiled on Dec. 12, 2019. The two articles of impeachment accused the 45th president of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. On Dec. 13, 2019, the House Judiciary committee voted to send these formal charges, known as articles of impeachment, to the full House of Representatives. A vote to impeach the 45th president took place on Dec. 18, 2019 on charges of abuse of power and abuse of Congress. On that day, Donald Trump became only the 3rd president in United States history to be impeached. The trial of Trump was scheduled to begin in the Senate on Jan. 21, 2020. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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