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Tag: Impeachment

  • South Africa’s Ramaphosa escapes impeachment after parliament votes against move

    Despite allegations of misconduct and a breach of the oath of office against the president, the majority of parliament resolved against opening impeachment proceedings against him.In response to a report that claimed President Cyril Ramaphosa kept unreported foreign currency at his farm in 2020, the South African parliament voted against initiating impeachment proceedings against him.

    On Tuesday, the lawmakers rejected the motion to impeach Ramaphosa 214 to 148. Ramaphosa was largely supported by the majority-holding African National Congress (ANC), which prevented the motion from obtaining the two-thirds majority required to move forward with impeachment.

    However, four ANC lawmakers demonstrated their disapproval of Ramaphosa by voting in favour of impeachment, and a few more chose to abstain from the vote.

    The crucial vote came after a damning parliamentary report alleged that Ramaphosa illegally hid at least $580,000 in cash in a sofa at his Phala Phala game ranch. It said he did not report the theft of the money to the police in order to avoid questions over how he got the foreign currency and why he had not declared it to authorities.

    The report has brought Ramaphosa’s opponents – opposition parties and even rivals within his ANC party – to call for him to step down.

    The parliamentary vote comes in a week where Ramaphosa will also be fighting for his political life as he seeks to be re-elected the leader of the ANC at its national conference starting in Johannesburg on Friday.

    The conference will also elect members of the party’s National Executive Committee, which is the party’s highest decision-making body.

    Ramaphosa must be re-elected as the ANC leader in order to standfor re-election to a second term as South Africa’s president in 2024.

     

     

     

     

  • Ramaphosa scandal: Opposition demands early elections in response

    South Africa’s opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) party plans to introduce a motion in parliament calling for an early election as President Cyril Ramaphosa deals with a controversy that could cost him his job.

    The president is accused of kidnapping the thieves and paying them to keep quiet in order to cover up a $4 million robbery on his property in 2020. He maintains that he did nothing wrong.

    The nation’s parliament will review a report on the scandal and decide whether or not to initiate the impeachment process next week.

    DA leader John Steenhuisen said the country cannot leave it up to the ruling party to “choose the future of our country” – referring to the upcoming ANC conference where Ramaphosa will seek a second term as the leader of the ruling party.

    John Steenhuisen

    “The party of Nelson Mandela has become a cess pit of corruption, greed and dishonesty from top to bottom,” said Steenhuisen.

    He noted that in order to call for an early election, the resolution for dissolution of the government would require a simple majority of 50% plus one in the national assembly.

    Coming two weeks before the ANC holds its crucial conference, where it is due to elect new leadership. The president has also cancelled a scheduled question-and-answer session in parliament Thursday afternoon, his office said.

    The president’s written request to cancel said that “implications for the stability of the country required that the President take the time to carefully consider the contents of the report and the next course of action to be taken”, parliamentary authorities said.

    The three-person panel set up in September to probe the alleged cover-up of a theft at Ramaphosa’s farmhouse said that the information it gathered shows that Ramaphosa possibly committed serious violations and misconduct.

    These include not reporting the theft directly to the police, acting in a way inconsistent with holding office and exposing himself to a clash between his official responsibilities and his private business.

  • Trump fires two impeachment witnesses

    US President Donald Trump has dismissed two senior officials who testified against him at his impeachment trial.

    The US envoy to the EU, Gordon Sondland, said he “was advised today that the president intends to recall me effective immediately”.

    Just hours earlier, Lt Col Alexander Vindman, a top expert on Ukraine, was escorted from the White House.

    Mr Trump is said to desire a staff shake-up after senators cleared him in the impeachment case on Wednesday.

    In its historic vote, the Senate decided not to remove America’s 45th president from office on charges arising from his dealings with Ukraine.

    Lt Col Vindman’s twin brother, Yevgeny Vindman, a senior lawyer for the National Security Council, was also sent back to the Department of the Army on Friday.

    What about Mr Sondland’s recall?

    In a statement issued by his lawyer, Mr Sondland said: “I was advised today that the president intends to recall me effective immediately as United States ambassador to the European Union.

    “I am grateful to President Trump for having given me the opportunity to serve, to Secretary [of State Mike] Pompeo for his consistent support, and to the exceptional and dedicated professionals at the US mission to the European Union.

    EU ambassador Gordon Sondland testifies that Trump’s personal lawyer “requests were a quid pro quo”

    “I am proud of our accomplishments. Our work here has been the highlight of my career,” Mr Sondland said.

    And how was Vindman removed?

    Lt Col Vindman’s counsel, David Pressman, told the BBC his client had been “escorted out of the White House where he has dutifully served his country and his president”.

    “There is no question in the mind of any American why this man’s job is over, why this country now has one less soldier serving it at the White House,” said the statement.

    “LTC Vindman was asked to leave for telling the truth. His honour, his commitment to right, frightened the powerful.”

    It added: “The truth has cost LTC Alexander Vindman his job, his career, and his privacy.”

     

    Lt Col Vindman testified in November about the president’s “improper” call

    Media captionLt Col Vindman testified in November about the president’s “improper” call

    The statement continued: “The most powerful man in the world – buoyed by the silent, the pliable, and the complicit – has decided to exact revenge.”

    Lt Col Vindman had reportedly turned up for work at the White House as usual on Friday.

    SOurce: myjoyonline.com

     

  • Trump acquitted at end of months long impeachment process, found not guilty of two articles

    The Senate voted to acquit President Donald Trump on two articles of impeachment Wednesday, marking the inevitable and historic end to a bitterly fought, divisive impeachment trial that will reverberate into the 2020 election and shape Trump’s presidential legacy.

    But the final day of the Senate’s impeachment trial was not without suspense: Sen. Mitt Romney, a Utah Republican, found the President guilty of abuse of power, becoming the first senator in US history to vote to remove from office a president from the same party.
    LIVE UPDATES: Impeachment trial of President Trump
    The third Senate impeachment trial of a sitting president in US history concluded Wednesday afternoon with votes finding the President not guilty of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, the impeachment articles the House charged Trump with in December. Romney was the sole Republican to vote to convict the President on the first article of impeachment, abuse of power, joining with all Senate Democrats in a 52-48 not guilty vote. Romney voted with Republicans against the obstruction of Congress charge, which fell along straight party lines, 53-47 for acquittal.
    The acquittal verdict was the final act of a four-month impeachment process that inflamed the partisan tensions simmering throughout the course of the Trump administration, friction that boiled over during the State of the Union even though Trump left impeachment out of his speech. While Wednesday’s vote marks the end of the formal impeachment process, Trump and his Democratic detractors are sure to take up the fight over the ultimate significance of the President’s impeachment as the presidential campaign heats up.

    Source:CNN

  • Democrats to focus on legality for removing Trump

    Democratic managers will resume their opening presentations Thursday at the Senate impeachment trial of President Donald Trump.

    The seven managers, who are acting as the de facto prosecutors in the Senate, are expected to focus on the Constitution and layout the legal grounds for Trump’s removal from office. They spent about eight hours Wednesday detailing the first article of impeachment — arguing the president abused his power last year by withholding hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid to pressure Ukraine to investigate Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden.

    Thursday’s session — Democrats’ second of three days to make their opening statements — will begin at 1 p.m. EST.

    Read:Pelosi loses Senate Democrats on Trump impeachment delay

    Manager Rep. Adam Schiff, who gave Democrats’ opening remarks Wednesday, said they plan to “apply the facts to the law as it relates to the president’s abuse of power.”

    Democratic managers are expected to take eight hours per day to fulfill the 24 hours they’re allotted to make their opening presentation before Trump’s White House attorneys make their case, most likely on Saturday. They will continue their opening remarks Monday and Tuesday before the questioning stage begins mid-next week. After that, the off-ramp stage will consider motions, including any by the White House to dismiss the case and those to include witnesses.

    Read:Trump impeachment: Democrats plan first formal vote

    Trump attorney Jay Sekulow indicated Wednesday, however, the president’s defense team will not seek to dismiss the case.

    “I want to let them try their case,” he told reporters. “And we want to try our case because we believe without a question the president will be acquitted. There is not a doubt.”

    Wednesday’s session followed a marathon fight to set the rules on Tuesday, during which Republicans defeated nearly a dozen Democratic amendments — including those to include key administration witnesses like former national security adviser John Bolton.

    Senate Democratic leader Charles Schumer assailed his GOP counterpart, Sen. Mitch McConnell, and accused him of continuing a cover-up in behalf of Trump.

    Read:Democrats add last-minute evidence to Trump impeachment case before Senate trial

    Trump, who returned to the United States Wednesday after attending the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, said he would like to see witnesses like Bolton appear at the trial, but said it’s out of the question due to national security concerns.

    Source: ghananewsagency.org

  • Trump impeachment articles delivered to Senate

    Two articles of impeachment against Donald Trump were delivered from the US House to the Senate on Wednesday, setting in motion the trial of the 45th US president.

    Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi signed the articles, which charge Trump with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, before they were ceremonially walked through the Capitol to the Republican-controlled Senate.

    “So sad, so tragic for our country, that the actions taken by the president to undermine our national security, to violate his oath of office and to jeopardize the security of our elections, has taken us to this place,” said Pelosi, before using several ceremonial pens to sign the articles.

    Read:Pelosi loses Senate Democrats on Trump impeachment delay

    Held in blue folders, the articles were delivered to a Senate clerk by officials including the House managers chosen to prosecute the case against Trump, after a message notifying the Senate of the impeachment charges was read aloud on the floor of the chamber.

    Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell then invited House managers to formally read the articles on the Senate floor at noon Thursday.

    Later that day at 2:00 pm, US Supreme Court Justice John Roberts will arrive to be sworn in.

    “Then the chief justice will swear in all of us senators,” a somber McConnell said on the floor.

    The Senate will be converted into a court of impeachment for only the third time in US history.

    “The trial will commence in earnest on Tuesday,” McConnell said.

    Read:Pelosi says Republicans will pay price for denying impeachment witnesses

    “We’ll pledge to rise above the petty factionalism and do justice for our institutions, for our states and for the nation,” he said.

    “I’m confident that this body can rise above short-termism and factional fever and serve the long-term best interests of our nation. We can do this, and we must.”

    McConnell said the White House would be notified of Trump’s pending trial, and that the Senate will “summon the president to answer the articles and send his counsel.”

    Trial expected to last two weeks

    Trump is accused of secretly holding up aid to Ukraine between July and September to pressure Kiev to investigate former vice president Joe Biden, the Democratic frontrunner in this year’s White House race.

    He was formally impeached on December 18 when the Democratic-controlled House charged him with abusing his power by illicitly seeking help from Ukraine for his reelection.

    Read:Democrats add last-minute evidence to Trump impeachment case before Senate trial

    The president is also charged with obstruction for holding back witnesses and documents from the House impeachment investigation in defiance of Congressional subpoenas.

    Wednesday’s ceremonial procedures mark the end of a weeks-long standoff between House Democrats and the Senate’s Republican leadership over whether to call witnesses in the trial.

    Pelosi has demanded witnesses testify, including key Trump administration officials with firsthand knowledge of the president’s efforts to pressure Ukraine which formed the basis of his impeachment.

    Republicans say they will only consider witnesses once the initial trial rules are approved and the trial, expected to last two weeks, is underway.

    Trump’s conviction in the Senate is highly unlikely as the president’s Republican Party has a 53-47 majority. A two-thirds super-majority of senators is required to find him guilty and remove him from office.

    Source: France24