Republican senators could turn against Trump if impeachment passes House: Conway

There are enough Republicans in the Senate who will break with President Donald Trump and vote to impeach him should the Democratic impeachment push successfully pass the House of Representatives, says George Conway, a critic of the president and the husband of White House adviser Kellyanne Conway.

He claimed in a tweet on Wednesday that Republican senators who are fed up with Trump’s antics will hide their opposition to him until the last possible minute and only vote against him when they feel there is real chance for impeachment.

"I agree with this. There may be Republican senators who won’t say a word until the moment they say 'guilty' when the roll is called at the end of an impeachment trial," Conway said in a tweet, while responding to a political commentator who pointed to a growing number of senators who “privately” hate Trump.

Conway is a fierce supporter of removing Trump from the office. He has already called on the Republican’s cabinet to push him out using provisions in the 25th Amendment.

The remark came a day after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi authorized the beginning of a formal impeachment inquiry, saying Trump "must be held accountable" for his actions.

While many Democrats have been calling for Trump’s impeachment since his early days in the office, such calls hit a fever pitch after reports that the American president chased Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a phone call to investigate the son of former Vice President Joe Biden, the Democratic front-runner in the 2020 presidential race.

Conway repeated his call for Trump’s impeachment after the story first emerged over the weekend.

“Trump has already done more than enough to warrant impeachment and removal,” he wrote in an op-ed for The Washington Post. “The current whistleblowing allegations, however, are even worse.”

PressTV-US House launches impeachment inquiry into Trump

The US House announces the start of a formal impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump over the so-called Ukraine scandal.

According to a transcript that the White House released on Wednesday, Biden’s name came up twice during the call.

Trump asked Zelensky to work on the issue with his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, and US Attorney General William Barr.

"There's a lot of talk about Biden's son, that Biden stopped the prosecution and a lot of people want to find out about that so whatever you can do with the Attorney General would be great. Biden went around bragging that he stopped the prosecution so if you can look into it ... It sounds horrible to me," Trump says, according to the document.

After completing the inquiry, the House will put the matter to vote. Currently, Democrats hold a 235 to 198 majority over Republicans while Michigan Representative Justin Amash is the only independent lawmaker after quitting the Republican Party in July. There is also one vacant seat.

To win the vote democrats only need 217 votes so there is high chance the impeachment will be approved at the chamber.

It is a different story at Senate, where Republicans are in control with a 53-45 majority. While two independents also usually support the Democrats, the impeachers would be far away from the 67 votes required to impeach Trump.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk