US President Donald Trump is likely to become the third president to be impeached this week after the Democratic-led House of Representatives votes on charges stemming from his effort to pressure Ukraine to investigate political rival, Joe Biden.

On Wednesday, the House is likely to take up impeachment while setting the stage for a vote this week on whether to approve the charges and send the matter to the Republican-led Senate to hold a trial on whether to remove Trump from office.

Democrats, who enjoy a 36-seat majority in the House, are expected to win an impeachment vote, which requires a simple majority.

The President has denied wrongdoing and accused Democrats of a baseless and politically-motivated bid to oust him from power.

Earlier on Monday, taking to Twitter, White House spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham said, “Schumer’s comments seeking fairness were “laughable” after the release of the 658-page report “in the middle of the night. Thankfully the people of this country continue to see the partisan sham that this is.”
On Friday, President Trump said that it is unfair that he was being impeached as he had done no wrong and the US, under his leadership, was doing quite good.

The impeachment against Donald Trump now moves to the House of Representatives, where the opposition Democratic Party enjoys a majority. Once passed by the House, the trial for impeachment would be carried out in the 100-member US Senate, where President Trump’s Republican party has a majority.

Earlier on Friday, Trump described his impeachment probe as a hoax and politically motivated.

“It is a witch hunt. It is a sham. It is a hoax. Nothing was done wrong. Zero was done wrong. I think it is a horrible thing to be using the tool of impeachment, which is supposed to be used in an emergency. And it would seem many, many, many years apart,” he asserted.

“To be using this for a perfect phone call, where the president of that country said there was no pressure whatsoever — did not even know what we were talking about. It was perfect; the relationship is perfect. I have done much more for them than Obama did for them. It is a scam. It is something that should not be allowed. And it is a very bad thing for our country,” President Trump said.

While impeachment is expected to pass in the Democratic-led House, the Senate is held by a Republican majority and would likely acquit the US president as his 2020 reelection campaign gathers pace.

Pelosi has argued that the president’s conduct when it came to Ukraine left Democrats with “no choice but to act,” charging that Trump abused the powers of the presidency and leaving little doubt that the House will hold a vote to impeach him as early as before Christmas.

In September, the impeachment inquiry, which Nancy Pelosi initiated over a complaint by an anonymous whistleblower, is looking into White House’s alleged efforts to withhold military aid to have Ukraine investigate a Trump’s political rival, Joe Biden.