WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump seriously misused the power of his office for personal political gain by seeking foreign intervention in the American election process and obstructed Congress by stonewalling efforts to investigate, a House report released Tuesday concluded in findings that form the basis for possible impeachment.
The 300-page report from Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee does not render a judgment on whether Trump’s actions stemming from a July 25 phone call with Ukraine rise to the level of “high crimes and misdemeanors” warranting impeachment. That is for Congress to decide. But it details “significant misconduct” by the president that the House Judiciary Committee will begin to assess Wednesday.
“The evidence that we have found is really quite overwhelming that the president used the power of his office to secure political favors and abuse the trust American people put in him and jeopardize our security,” Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., told The Associated Press.
“It was a difficult decision to go down this road, because it’s so consequential for the country,” he said. But “the president was the author of his own impeachment inquiry by repeatedly seeking foreign help in his election campaigns.”
Schiff added: “Americans need to understand that this president is putting his personal political interests above theirs. And that it’s endangering the country.”