Trump becomes third U.S. president to be impeached as House approves both articles against him

The House of Representatives voted on Dec. 18 to impeach President Trump on charges that he abused his office and obstructed Congress. (Video: The Washington Post)

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Elise Viebeck

December 18, 2019 at 10:56 p.m. EST

The latest updates on the impeachment of President Trump

The House voted after nearly 12 hours of debate Wednesday night to impeach President Trump for his conduct toward Ukraine and his refusal to cooperate with the inquiry, making him only the third president in U.S. history to receive that sanction.

Democrats had more than enough votes to approve the two articles of impeachment against Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, even with two Democratic defections on the first, three on the second and presidential candidate Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) voting “present” on both.

Wednesday’s action will lead to a trial in the Republican-led Senate, where a two-thirds vote would be required to remove the president from office.

At the heart of the Democrats’ case is the allegation that Trump tried to leverage a White House meeting and military aid, sought by Ukraine to combat Russian military aggression, to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to launch an investigation of former vice president Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden, as well as a probe of an unfounded theory that Kyiv conspired with Democrats to interfere in the 2016 presidential election.

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