Adam Schiff calls Trump 'charlatan,' vows to 'send him back where he came from'

US Congressman Adam Schiff, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee leading an impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump, has called the US president a "charlatan" and "the greatest threat to democracy.''

Schiff said at a Democratic Party convention in the US state of California on Saturday that, "The greatest threat to the life and the health of our democracy comes from within.”

Schiff accused Trump of thinking he is "above the law"and promised to send the US president ''back to the golden throne he came from,'' but added that this should be done in a democratic way through voting.

"We will send that charlatan in the White House back to the golden throne he came from. And you know why? Because we vote. How do we build another big, beautiful wave? We vote," the senior lawmaker said.

Democrats in the House launched an impeachment inquiry against Trump in September after a whistleblower alleged the Republican president pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter, who had served as a director for Ukrainian energy company Burisma.

Democrats are looking into whether Trump abused his power by withholding $391 million in US security aid to Ukraine as leverage to pressure Kiev to conduct an investigation that would benefit him politically.

The US president has denied any wrongdoing, claiming that he held up the aid because he wanted other countries to contribute more to Ukraine's defense.

Trump has previously mocked Schiff on his Twitter page, referring to the congressman as ''shifty Adam Schiff'' and dubbing the whole impeachment inquiry as another "witch hunt."

The Republican president has also called on Democrats to read the full transcript of his conversation with Zelensky out loud.

The US House of Representatives held its first public hearings on Wednesday in its impeachment inquiry into allegations that Trump asked a foreign government to investigate a domestic political rival.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Trump has admitted to actions that amount to "bribery" in the Ukraine scandal, accusing the Republican president of an impeachable offense under the Constitution.

PressTV-US House Speaker: Trump committed ‘bribery’ on Ukraine

US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the president’s actions in the impeachment inquiry amount to “bribery.”

The US Constitution states that impeachable offenses include "treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors." It can encompass corruption and other abuses, including trying to obstruct judicial proceedings.

The public hearings were launched after weeks of closed-door interviews, marking a new phase of the impeachment probe that could determine the fate of Trump’s tumultuous presidency.

Only two American presidents have been impeached by the House, Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1998. Neither Johnson nor Clinton was convicted by the Senate.

In 1974, then US President Richard Nixon resigned in the face of certain impeachment and removal from office over the Watergate scandal.

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