President Donald Trump is now almost certain to become the third president in U.S. history to be impeached by the House of Representatives.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said at a press conference on Thursday that she is formally asking the House Judiciary Committee to draft articles of impeachment against Trump over his actions toward Ukraine, saying "the president leaves us no choice but to act."
The Trump re-election campaign said in a statement: “We are less than a year away from Election Day 2020 and Democrats can’t possibly explain to the American people why they want to take the decision of who should be president out of the hands of voters," adding that Democrats "should just get on with it so we can have a fair trial in the Senate and expose The Swamp for what it is."
Pelosi, who earlier this year had counseled her caucus against impeaching the president over obstruction of justice allegations related to the Russia investigation, now says that the evidence and witness testimony from weeks of impeachment hearings are "uncontested."
"The president abused his power for his own personal, political benefit" and "seriously violated the Constitution," she said.
The announcement means that it is now increasingly likely that articles of impeachment will be drafted and voted on before the House leaves for its end-of-the-year recess, as some Democrats had previously indicated, with a Senate trial possible in the beginning of 2020.
Attorneys for Gov. Ron DeSantis are asking a federal judge on Tuesday to dismiss a free speech lawsuit filed by Disney after the Florida governor took over Walt Disney World's governing district in retaliation for the company opposing a state law that banned classroom lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity in early grades.
Federal investigators have gained access to former president Donald Trump's phone records which could be used as evidence in his 2020 election interference trial.
The Texas Supreme Court has ruled against a woman seeking an abortion while in Arizona, the state Supreme Court will begin hearing oral arguments in an abortion rights case.
Attorneys for a pregnant Texas woman who sought court permission for an abortion in an unprecedented challenge to one of the most restrictive bans in the U.S. say she has left the state to obtain the procedure.
A New Hampshire man has been accused of sending text messages threatening to kill a presidential candidate ahead of a scheduled campaign event Monday, federal prosecutors said.
Special counsel Jack Smith on Monday asked the Supreme Court to take up and rule quickly on whether former President Donald Trump can be prosecuted on charges he plotted to overturn the 2020 election results.
Wildlife officials plan to release gray wolves in Colorado in coming weeks, at the behest of urban voters and to the dismay of rural residents who don't want the predators but have waning influence in the Democratic-led state.
