House Judiciary Committee Releases Impeachment Report Detailing Rationale Behind Impeachment

The House Judiciary Committee released a 658-page impeachment report early Monday morning explaining the decision to charge President Donald Trump with two articles of impeachment.

It also includes previous House Intelligence Committee reports consolidating the evidence against the president, explains the constitutional framework around impeachment and provides counter-testimony from Republicans who believe Trump’s offenses are not grounds for impeachment.

SLIDESHOW: TOP DEMOCRATS RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT IN 2020

The report is needed for the House to vote on the two articles of impeachment, abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, for his interactions with Ukraine and subsequent orders preventing officials from testifying to House investigators. A floor vote is expected on Wednesday.

“While there is no need for a crime to be proven in order for impeachment to be warranted, here, President Trump’s scheme or course of conduct also encompassed other offenses, both constitutional and criminal in character, and it is appropriate for the Committee to recognize such offenses in assessing the question of impeachment,” the report reads.

“President Trump’s abuse of power encompassed both the constitutional offense of ‘Bribery’ and multiple federal crimes,” it continues. “He has betrayed the national interest, the people of this Nation, and should not be permitted to be above the law. It is therefore all the more vital that he be removed from office.”

Republicans wrote dissenting opinions in the report, believing Trump committed no crime.

“Before the House of Representatives are two Articles of Impeachment against the President of the United States, Donald John Trump. To these Articles, the minority dissents,” wrote Rep. Doug Collins (R-Georgia). “The majority’s actions are unprecedented, unjustifiable and will only dilute the significance of the dire recourse that is impeachment. The ramifications for future presidents are not difficult to surmise.”

Trump has been threatened with impeachment since a whistleblower complaint alleging Trump had improperly pressured Ukraine to investigate his political rival during a July 25 phone call sparked a House investigation.

The report states that impeachment exists for a reason, and there is enough evidence that Congress should use it.

“The Framers were not fools,” the report states. “They authorized impeachment for a reason, and that reason would have been gutted if impeachment were limited to crimes.”