MOSCOW, September 25. /TASS/: The possibility of US President Donald Trump being impeached as a result of the inquiry launched by the Congress is marginal, while the American leader himself can take advantage of the situation to attack the Democrats, Russian experts told TASS on Wednesday.
"A strong anti-Trump coalition is needed both in the House of Representatives and the Senate to impeach the US leader," Director of the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute for US and Canadian Studies Valery Garbuzov. "I don’t believe that it will come down to this. Although the Democrats are dreaming of the day when he is dragged out of the White House feet first."
"The Democrats have repeatedly threatened Trump with an impeachment his entire presidency, while now they have a very favorable occasion (the alleged attempt by the US leader to use the Ukrainian authorities to undermine reputation of former US Vice President Joe Biden - TASS)," the expert continued. "It is clear that this [Democrats’ attempts to remove Trump] does not hold any water. The US election campaign is now gaining momentum."
According to Program Director at the Valdai Discussion Club and the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) Ivan Timofeyev, the Democrats are trying to attack Trump through various means with the elections coming soon. "The possibility of an impeachment is negligibly small. The US leader can jump on this opportunity and launch a serious offensive on the Democrats," he believes. "Certain circumsatnces may even prompt him to steamroll their activities and even specific Democrats, particularly Biden."
"The last election campaign focused on an alleged Russian interference in the US elections," Garbuzov added. "The issue of Trump being a "Russian agent" will not leave the US agenda, while Ukraine will only be added to it. It all depends on the way it will unfold." "I don’t think that internal issues will take a backseat, but the Ukrainian issue can introduce a certain flavor and character [to the US election campaign]," he concluded.
Impeachment
On Tuesday, Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi announced the launch of an impeachment inquiry against Trump. The move came after reports emerged in the media that the US leader had allegedly attempted to pressure his Ukrainian counterpart Vladimir Zelensky to take actions, which would help the current occupant of the White House to get reelected for a second term in the office in 2020.
Trump’s political opponents suggest that the US president had a telephone call with Zelensky in July when a hint was made that he would effectively block any military assistance to Ukraine if Kiev refuses to investigate Biden, the most likely opponent of Trump’s at the upcoming elections currently, and his son.
Impeachment is a process of prosecuting federal civil officers through dismissal from office, including US president. Impeachable offences include "Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors". The impeachment procedure has been initiated in the US history before Trump three times. The presidents that faced impeachment were Andrew Johnson (in 1868), Richard Nixon (1974) and Bill Clinton (1998-1999). Johnson and Clinton were acquitted by the US Senate, while Nixon resigned even before the proceedings began.
