Trump impeachment over Biden case very unlikely : commentator

As US Democrats are moving forward with an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, a political commentator says this is an effort to make Trump a one-term president and that his impeachment is “very unlikely.”

The Washington-based commentator Malik Abdullah told Press TV’s the Debate on Thursday that the inquiry is “actually part of the largest strategies that Democrats have employed, pretty much since Trump has taken office, that they want to actually make the president, one-term president.”

The Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, announced the opening of a formal impeachment inquiry into Trump, saying he betrayed his oath of office by seeking help from a foreign power to hurt his Democratic rival Joe Biden.

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.

Trump has apparently pressured Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, to investigate Biden and his son, warning that he would not give Ukraine the promised military aid if he refused to comply.

"The president must be held accountable. No one is above the law," Pelosi said in a statement.

Speaking to Press TV on the same episode of the Debate, criminal defense attorney and former CIA officer, Jack Rice also said the effort by the Democrats is to peel up “votes for the president in the upcoming elections.”

“This is about the political question of impeachment, but this is also about peeling up votes for the president in the upcoming elections,” he explained.

“Part of the problem is that there is not enough experience inside the United States on exactly what is and isn’t impeachable,” Rice added.

He further explained that “the House has the “ability to certainly conclude based upon what it is that the president allegedly did.”

“If they conclude that he did do this, they could vote for articles of impeachment, which would then send it to the US Senate, which would have to make a determination whether in fact he would be removed from office, or whether or not the House essentially prove their case,” he added.

He also noted that “a sitting president should not ever put himself in that position, nor put the United States in that position. I think it’s completely and utterly inappropriate.”

“You may start to see a shift out of the White house, saying down the road this was a mistake but this was not impeachable,” Rice said. “We are not there yet, but I have an expectation; we may get there at some point.”

Malilk also said that he “totally agree[s] with that.”

He said that “when I heard it, you know initially I said to myself ‘ouch’. You know that’s probably not something that the president of the United States should be saying.”

Asked if this would lead to Trump having trouble winning the 2020 presidential election, Malik said, Donald Trump would have no problem wining the reelection.”

PressTV-‘Trump exposed himself to national security risks’

President Trump might have exposed himself to "serious national security and counter-intelligence risks" while pressuring Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden and his son.

“It will be contentious as it is, but I just considering the political climate that we are in now, I don’t think that this is something that you’re going to have that many people who actually move away from Donald Trump and say; ‘I don’t think we should have this guy as out president’,” he said.

 Rice, however, believed that the move by the Democrats “can make a difference.”

 “Because this can be characterized as essentially taking the presidency and using it for personal benefits; in other words using it for your own benefit and using it for the upcoming election, which means you are essentially exploding your office,” Rice said.

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