Democrats believe there is enough evidence to justify the impeachment of US President Donald Trump. Its not something that they have taken lightly.
For a very long time now, US House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, has resisted growing calls from fellow democrats to impeach Trump on the back of the Mueller inquiry. The fear is that the measure would not pass through a republican-majority senate and could backfire at the 2020 elections.
However, Pelosi has now opened a formal impeachment inquiry after a whistle-blower from the intelligence community made a formal complaint about a telephone conversation between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Trump is alleged to have pressured Zelensky to investigate and dig up damaging information about democratic political rival Joe Biden. Pelosi says Trump must be held accountable.