First Group Writing Assignment Professor: Gregory Finley

Group Member:

The Phuc Dinh (Mike)

Christopher Martin

Connor C Sorensen

Mark B Margiyev

Faith M Benson

First Group Writing Assignment – POLL 111

Date: Nov 1st, 2019

Impeachment Inquiry

1. What is the stated objective of the impeachment inquiry?

An impeachment inquiry is the House Judiciary Committee’s investigation into whether there’s
enough evidence for an impeachment case against a federal official to go forward. Members of the
committee must decide whether to write articles of impeachment and present them to the rest of the
House for a vote on impeachment.

Impeachment is the first stage of a two-part process enshrined in the Constitution for
prosecuting and removing a President or other federal official from office for bribery, treason or
other “high crimes and misdemeanors.” The House of Representatives has the power to impeach by
passing what is known as “articles of impeachment.” However, it’s up to the Senate to ultimately
remove the President or other official from office after holding a trial.

An impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump began after a whistleblower alleged
that President Trump had pressured the leaders of foreign nations, most notably Ukraine, to
investigate former U.S. vice president and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his
son Hunter.

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2. What prompted Speaker Pelosi to announce the inquiry?

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi accused Trump of violating the Constitution by using his position
as president to solicit help from a foreign government to damage his political opponent. It began
after a whistleblower alleged that President Trump had pressured the leaders of foreign nations,
most notably Ukraine, to investigate former U.S. vice president and 2020 Democratic presidential
candidate Joe Biden and his son Hunter. “The president has admitted to asking the president of
Ukraine to take actions which would benefit him politically,” Pelosi said in a brief speech to
reporters. “The actions of the Trump presidency revealed dishonorable facts of betrayal of his oath
of office and betrayal of our national security and betrayal of the integrity of our elections.”

3. When did the inquiry begin?

On September 24, 2019, House Democrats launched a formal impeachment inquiry. The first
whistleblower's complaint was given to Congress on September 25, 2019 and released to the public
the next day.

4. What has happened thus far concerning the inquiry (i.e., have there been hearings, have witnesses
been interviewed and/or deposed, have documents been subpoenaed?)
The latest update is The House of Representatives approved a resolution to formalize the
procedures of the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump on Oct 31st. A resolution
authorizing public hearings and laying the groundwork for eventual proceedings in the Judiciary
Committee passed by a vote of 232 to 196. Below are some main related events in the past:
 Sept. 24, 2019: House Democrats launch a formal impeachment inquiry
 Sept. 26, 2019: The whistleblower complaint is made public
 Oct. 3, 2019: Energy Secretary Kurt Volker testifies before Congress and shares his text
messages — mentioned above — with Taylor, Sondland, Giuliani and Yermak.
 Oct. 4, 2019: House Democrats subpoena the White House for documents related to
Ukraine and the impeachment inquiry.
 Oct. 6: A second whistleblower emerges
 Oct. 10: Giuliani associates arrested.

More events are happening that our group did not mention on this paper due to limit of time.

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First Group Writing Assignment Professor: Gregory Finley

5. When is the inquiry expected to end?

Once the Judiciary Committee completes its hearings and votes on any articles of impeachment, its
report would go to the full House for a vote. There is no timeline for these next steps in the House, but
Democratic leaders have indicated that they would like to wrap up the process before the end of the
year. After the House passes the articles and votes to impeach, the process then heads to the Senate. We
also cannot forget about the public opinion which can change with time. Impeachment inquiry is a
complicated process that can take different amounts of time there is not a specific date for when it ends.

6. What is the expected outcome of the inquiry?

The expected outcome of the inquiry is still unknown because there are many potential
outcomes. While most people believe that Trump will be impeached, others believe that the
impeachment inquiry is not a good idea because there are not yet enough evidence.

7. Does your group believe the inquiry is a good idea?

Our team divided into 2 groups with different ideas about the impeachment inquiry.

First group’s opinion:

Three members of our group believe the inquiry needs to be carried out as soon as possible. The
whistleblower’s complaint about Trump’s call with Ukraine’s President shows Trump used U.S
military aid to pressure Ukraine to interfere in our 2020 elections. In doing so, Trump put our
national security at risk, and this is not the first time he did things not good for our country. We
need to remove Donald Trump because nobody is above the law. We cannot afford to normalize
Trump’s lawless behavior in office. He is unfit for office and has failed in his duty as Commander
in Chief to protect our country.

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First Group Writing Assignment Professor: Gregory Finley

Second group’s opinion:

2 members of our group think a little bit different than 3 above members. They think it will not
work.

Impeachment is the constitutional process where the House of Representative brings charges
against a civil officer in government — in this case the President. A two-thirds majority in the
Senate is required to convict and remove the president from office. That means 67 senators would
need to agree to remove president Trump. While the Democrats obtained a majority in the House of
Representatives with 234 Democrats vs. 201 Republicans, the Republicans hold a 53-47 majority in
the Senate (53 Republicans & 47 Democrats). That means a minimum of 20 Republicans would
have to break to join all 47 Democrats to oust the President. With that said, it is not practical to gain
67 votes in the Senate with above picture.

Moreover, two presidents in our history have been impeached in U.S. history, and neither of
them were removed from office. The same result can happen again if the impeachment happens.
Andrew Johnson was in 1868, and Bill Clinton was in 1998. Johnson was impeached by the House
on 11 articles of impeachment, namely violating the Tenure of Office Act, which involved his firing
of Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton. Clinton was impeached by the House on two articles of
impeachment: Perjury and obstruction of justice. These alleged violations related to a sexual
harassment lawsuit filed against Clinton by Paula Jones.

If impeachment happens this time, but not conviction, then it could be taken advantage of by
President Donald Trump. The failure of the Impeachment can bring back is increase the trust level
from voters to Trump and help him gain advantage in the 2020 election. This is the second reason.

8. Has our representative in the House, Jaime Herrera Beutler taken a position on the inquiry?

On the Columbian news, published on September 26, Herrera Beutler mentioned “After
reviewing a whistleblower complaint, it remains unproven that the president engaged in a quid pro
quo. These allegations remain serious, but for the sake of this nation, we should all follow a process
that does not put conclusions before facts” when she responded to questions regarding a
whistleblower complaint. She continued “The phone call by itself does not present the facts to

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First Group Writing Assignment Professor: Gregory Finley

prove what has been alleged — and any subsequent congressional action related to this must be led
by facts.”

On another conversation with The Columbian’s Editorial Board on Wednesday October 9, she
repeated her previous assertion that she has seen no proof of a “quid pro quo,” or that the President
withheld $400 million in aid in exchange for political favors during a phone call with the president
of Ukraine. Until that can be proved, she would not support removing Trump from office. Herrera
Beutler emphasized “Do I think the president had an appropriate conversation? No. Do I think that
was wise? No. But I don’t think that’s a high enough bar for impeachment,”.

With that said, Herrera Beutler does not support to remove President Trump from his office.
Her point is very clear and consistent. Statements on whistleblower report need to be proved before
making any further steps.

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First Group Writing Assignment Professor: Gregory Finley

Works Cited

“14 Answers to the Impeachment Inquiry, and What May Come Next.” The New York Times, The

New York Times, 26 Sept. 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/26/reader-

center/impeachment-inquiry-questions.html.

Hair, Calley, and Calley Hair. “Herrera Beutler Calls for Impeachment Vote.” The Columbian,

https://www.columbian.com/news/2019/oct/11/herrera-beutler-calls-for-impeachment-vote/.

Hair, Calley, and Calley Hair. “Herrera Beutler on Whistleblower Report: Quid pro Quo 'Remains

Unproven'.” The Columbian, https://www.columbian.com/news/2019/sep/26/herrera-beutler-on-

whistleblower-report-quid-pro-quo-remains-unproven/.

Grace Segers, Kathryn Watson. “Democrats Summon Bolton to Testify in Impeachment Inquiry -

Live Updates.” CBS News, CBS Interactive, 31 Oct. 2019, https://www.cbsnews.com/live-

news/trump-impeachment-inquiry-latest-house-democrats-resolution-2019-10-30/.

“Trump Impeachment Inquiry: A Timeline.” Los Angeles Times, 26 Sept. 2019,

https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2019-09-26/ukraine-trump-impeachment-inquiry-

timeline.

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