Democratic lawmakers are ready to approve two impeachment charges against the United States Republican President, Donald Trump on Wednesday.
If the impeachment falls through, Trump would then face a Senate trial next month but members of his party control that chamber, making it very unlikely to remove him from office.
In a six-page letter issued on the eve of the vote, Trump who is the 45th US President described the process as an attempted coup and a scam, arguing that he had been treated worse than ‘those accused in the Salem witch trials’.
The vote in the Democratic-controlled House is expected to fall almost entirely along party lines.
Nearly 200 Republicans are united in opposition except for one lawmaker, Florida’s Francis Rooney who is retiring and has not ruled out siding with Democrats.
All but a handful of the 232 House Democrats have said they will back impeachment. About 216 votes are needed for the measure to pass by a simple majority in the lower chamber of Congress.
The House Judiciary Committee approved two articles of impeachment against Mr Trump last week.
The first is abuse of power where it accused Trump of trying to pressure Ukraine to smear his political rival and Democratic presidential contender, Joe Biden.
The second charge is obstruction of Congress. Mr. Trump, who blocked his aides from testifying is accused of failing to co-operate with the House impeachment investigation.
The president has however denied withholding US aid to benefit himself politically and maintains it was appropriate to ask Ukraine to look into alleged corruption.
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