Impeaching Donald John Trump, President of the United States, for high crimes and misdemeanors.

III 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. RES. 755 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JANUARY 15, 2020 Received RESOLUTION Impeaching Donald John Trump, President of the United States, for high crimes and misdemeanors. Resolved, That Donald John Trump, President of the 1 United States, is impeached for high crimes and mis- 2 demeanors and that the following articles of impeachment 3 be exhibited to the United States Senate: 4 Articles of impeachment exhibited by the House of 5 Representatives of the United States of America in the 6 name of itself and of the people of the United States of 7 America, against Donald John Trump, President of the 8 United States of America, in maintenance and support of 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:05 Feb 06, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR755.RDS HR755 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 HRES 755 RDS its impeachment against him for high crimes and mis- 1 demeanors. 2 ARTICLE I: ABUSE OF POWER 3 The Constitution provides that the House of Rep- 4 resentatives ‘‘shall have the sole Power of Impeachment’’ 5 and that the President ‘‘shall be removed from Office on 6 Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or 7 other high Crimes and Misdemeanors’’. In his conduct of 8 the office of President of the United States—and in viola- 9 tion of his constitutional oath faithfully to execute the of- 10 fice of President of the United States and, to the best of 11 his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution 12 of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional 13 duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed— 14 Donald J. Trump has abused the powers of the Presi- 15 dency, in that: 16 Using the powers of his high office, President Trump 17 solicited the interference of a foreign government, 18 Ukraine, in the 2020 United States Presidential election. 19 He did so through a scheme or course of conduct that 20 included soliciting the Government of Ukraine to publicly 21 announce investigations that would benefit his reelection, 22 harm the election prospects of a political opponent, and 23 influence the 2020 United States Presidential election to 24 his advantage. President Trump also sought to pressure 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:05 Feb 06, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR755.RDS HR755 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 HRES 755 RDS the Government of Ukraine to take these steps by condi- 1 tioning official United States Government acts of signifi- 2 cant value to Ukraine on its public announcement of the 3 investigations. President Trump engaged in this scheme 4 or course of conduct for corrupt purposes in pursuit of 5 personal political benefit. In so doing, President Trump 6 used the powers of the Presidency in a manner that com- 7 promised the national security of the United States and 8 undermined the integrity of the United States democratic 9 process. He thus ignored and injured the interests of the 10 Nation. 11 President Trump engaged in this scheme or course 12 of conduct through the following means: 13 (1) President Trump—acting both directly and 14 through his agents within and outside the United 15 States Government—corruptly solicited the Govern- 16 ment of Ukraine to publicly announce investigations 17 into— 18 (A) a political opponent, former Vice Presi- 19 dent Joseph R. Biden, Jr.; and 20 (B) a discredited theory promoted by Rus- 21 sia alleging that Ukraine—rather than Rus- 22 sia—interfered in the 2016 United States Pres- 23 idential election. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:05 Feb 06, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR755.RDS HR755 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 HRES 755 RDS (2) With the same corrupt motives, President 1 Trump—acting both directly and through his agents 2 within and outside the United States Government— 3 conditioned two official acts on the public announce- 4 ments that he had requested— 5 (A) the release of $391 million of United 6 States taxpayer funds that Congress had appro- 7 priated on a bipartisan basis for the purpose of 8 providing vital military and security assistance 9 to Ukraine to oppose Russian aggression and 10 which President Trump had ordered suspended; 11 and 12 (B) a head of state meeting at the White 13 House, which the President of Ukraine sought 14 to demonstrate continued United States support 15 for the Government of Ukraine in the face of 16 Russian aggression. 17 (3) Faced with the public revelation of his ac- 18 tions, President Trump ultimately released the mili- 19 tary and security assistance to the Government of 20 Ukraine, but has persisted in openly and corruptly 21 urging and soliciting Ukraine to undertake investiga- 22 tions for his personal political benefit. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:05 Feb 06, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR755.RDS HR755 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 HRES 755 RDS These actions were consistent with President 1 Trump’s previous invitations of foreign interference in 2 United States elections. 3 In all of this, President Trump abused the powers 4 of the Presidency by ignoring and injuring national secu- 5 rity and other vital national interests to obtain an im- 6 proper personal political benefit. He has also betrayed the 7 Nation by abusing his high office to enlist a foreign power 8 in corrupting democratic elections. 9 Wherefore President Trump, by such conduct, has 10 demonstrated that he will remain a threat to national se- 11 curity and the Constitution if allowed to remain in office, 12 and has acted in a manner grossly incompatible with self- 13 governance and the rule of law. President Trump thus 14 warrants impeachment and trial, removal from office, and 15 disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, 16 trust, or profit under the United States. 17 ARTICLE II: OBSTRUCTION OF CONGRESS 18 The Constitution provides that the House of Rep- 19 resentatives ‘‘shall have the sole Power of Impeachment’’ 20 and that the President ‘‘shall be removed from Office on 21 Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or 22 other high Crimes and Misdemeanors’’. In his conduct of 23 the office of President of the United States—and in viola- 24 tion of his constitutional oath faithfully to execute the of- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:05 Feb 06, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR755.RDS HR755 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 HRES 755 RDS fice of President of the United States and, to the best of 1 his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution 2 of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional 3 duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed— 4 Donald J. Trump has directed the unprecedented, categor- 5 ical, and indiscriminate defiance of subpoenas issued by 6 the House of Representatives pursuant to its ‘‘sole Power 7 of Impeachment’’. President Trump has abused the pow- 8 ers of the Presidency in a manner offensive to, and subver- 9 sive of, the Constitution, in that: 10 The House of Representatives has engaged in an im- 11 peachment inquiry focused on President Trump’s corrupt 12 solicitation of the Government of Ukraine to interfere in 13 the 2020 United States Presidential election. As part of 14 this impeachment inquiry, the Committees undertaking 15 the investigation served subpoenas seeking documents and 16 testimony deemed vital to the inquiry from various Execu- 17 tive Branch agencies and offices, and current and former 18 officials. 19 In response, without lawful cause or excuse, Presi- 20 dent Trump directed Executive Branch agencies, offices, 21 and officials not to comply with those subpoenas. Presi- 22 dent Trump thus interposed the powers of the Presidency 23 against the lawful subpoenas of the House of Representa- 24 tives, and assumed to himself functions and judgments 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:05 Feb 06, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR755.RDS HR755 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 HRES 755 RDS necessary to the exercise of the ‘‘sole Power of Impeach- 1 ment’’ vested by the Constitution in the House of Rep- 2 resentatives. 3 President Trump abused the powers of his high office 4 through the following means: 5 (1) Directing the White House to defy a lawful 6 subpoena by withholding the production of docu- 7 ments sought therein by the Committees. 8 (2) Directing other Executive Branch agencies 9 and offices to defy lawful subpoenas and withhold 10 the production of documents and records from the 11 Committees—in response to which the Department 12 of State, Office of Management and Budget, Depart- 13 ment of Energy, and Department of Defense refused 14 to produce a single document or record. 15 (3) Directing current and former Executive 16 Branch officials not to cooperate with the Commit- 17 tees—in response to which nine Administration offi- 18 cials defied subpoenas for testimony, namely John 19 Michael ‘‘Mick’’ Mulvaney, Robert B. Blair, John A. 20 Eisenberg, Michael Ellis, Preston Wells Griffith, 21 Russell T. Vought, Michael Duffey, Brian McCor- 22 mack, and T. Ulrich Brechbuhl. 23 These actions were consistent with President 24 Trump’s previous efforts to undermine United States Gov- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:05 Feb 06, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR755.RDS HR755 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 HRES 755 RDS ernment investigations into foreign interference in United 1 States elections. 2 Through these actions, President Trump sought to 3 arrogate to himself the right to determine the propriety, 4 scope, and nature of an impeachment inquiry into his own 5 conduct, as well as the unilateral prerogative to deny any 6 and all information to the House of Representatives in the 7 exercise of its ‘‘sole Power of Impeachment’’. In the his- 8 tory of the Republic, no President has ever ordered the 9 complete defiance of an impeachment inquiry or sought 10 to obstruct and impede so comprehensively the ability of 11 the House of Representatives to investigate ‘‘high Crimes 12 and Misdemeanors’’. This abuse of office served to cover 13 up the President’s own repeated misconduct and to seize 14 and control the power of impeachment—and thus to nul- 15 lify a vital constitutional safeguard vested solely in the 16 House of Representatives. 17 In all of this, President Trump has acted in a manner 18 contrary to his trust as President and subversive of con- 19 stitutional government, to the great prejudice of the cause 20 of law and justice, and to the manifest injury of the people 21 of the United States. 22 Wherefore, President Trump, by such conduct, has 23 demonstrated that he will remain a threat to the Constitu- 24 tion if allowed to remain in office, and has acted in a man- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:05 Feb 06, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR755.RDS HR755 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 HRES 755 RDS ner grossly incompatible with self-governance and the rule 1 of law. President Trump thus warrants impeachment and 2 trial, removal from office, and disqualification to hold and 3 enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United 4 States. 5 NANCY PELOSI, Speaker of the House of Representatives. Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, Clerk. VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:05 Feb 06, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR755.RDS HR755 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS