Democrats unveil Trump impeachment procedure, White House terms it 'illegitimate sham'

The Democratic Party, which controls the US House of Representatives, has unveiled a resolution setting out the next steps in their impeachment efforts against President Donald Trump.

President Trump, a Republican, is accused of trying to pressure Ukraine into investigating unsubstantiated corruption claims against his political rival, Joe Biden, and his son who worked with Ukrainian gas company Burisma.

The eight-page resolution made public on Tuesday sets out a more public phase of the inquiry and hands the lead role in hearings to the chair of the intelligence committee, Adam Schiff.

The House is expected to vote on the measure on Thursday.

"There is mounting evidence that the president abused his power and betrayed our national security while compromising the integrity of America's elections," Rules Committee Chairman James P McGovern said.

"The House impeachment inquiry has collected extensive evidence and testimony, and soon the American people will hear from witnesses in an open setting. The resolution introduced today in the House Rules Committee will provide that pathway forward," the heads of four House committees said in a joint statement.

They four are Congressmen Adam Schiff, the Chairman of Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence; Jerrod Nadler, the Chairman of Judiciary Committee; Eliot Engel, the Chairman of Committee on Foreign Affairs, and Carolyn Maloney, the Acting Chairwoman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform.

"The evidence we have already collected paints the picture of a president who abused his power by using multiple levers of the government to press a foreign country to interfere in the 2020 election," they said.

Following in the footsteps of previous impeachment inquiries, the next phase will move from closed depositions to open hearings where the American people will learn firsthand about the president's "misconduct", they said.

Reacting sharply to the move of the Opposition Democratic Party, the White House described the resolution an "illegitimate sham".

"The resolution put forward by Speaker (Nancy) Pelosi confirms that House Democrats' impeachment (procedure) has been an illegitimate sham from the start as it lacked any proper authorisation by a House vote," White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham said.

"It continues this scam by allowing Chairman Schiff, who repeatedly lies to the American people, to hold a new round of hearings, still without any due process for the president."
Even then, the White House's rights remain undefined, unclear, and uncertain because those rules still haven't been written, she alleged, adding, "This resolution does nothing to change the fundamental fact that House Democrats refuse to provide basic due process rights to the administration."