Welcome to the lead. Im jake tapper. We begin with our toll picpolit and history with President Trump almost certain to become the third u. S. President to be impeached by the house of representatives. Speaker pelosi announcing earlier today House Democrats are moving forward with articles of impeachment against the president. Pelosi saying that mr. Trump left her with no choice but to act. Members of congress are now faced with these two key questions. One, what do we know about the president s actions, and two, do they rise to an impeachable offense. We know according to the president s own words, he asked the president of ukraine to pursue an investigation of his political rival, joe biden, as well as an investigation into a debunked Conspiracy Theory that ukraine, not russia, interfered in the last election. We know, according to key witnesses, President Trump conditioned a white house meeting and badlyneeded aid for ukraine, at least in part on ukraine announcing these investigati
President trump says hes not concerned. Are you concerned about what impeachment might have on your legacy . No, not at all. Fact the president claimed on twitter, not only is he not afraid, he said hurry it up. If youre going to impeachment, do it now, fast so we can have a fair trial in the senate so the country can get back to business. Trumps claim to have no worry and no worry about his legacy is a whole lot of talk. This is the same donald trump saying it wasnt possible for clirn clinton to have a great legacy because very few president s were impeached so that hurt him very much. Obviously now he says he feels differently and even as trump says he wants an impeachment and a fast one his own party isnt on the same page. Senate Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell taking the exact opposite stance as the president as to how fast this could go. Hes accusing pelosi of moving too quickly. Mcconnell tweeting, quote, this morning Speaker Pelosi had a rushed and partisan impeachment process.
final say but the committee believes that will help them further nail down exactly bhafs happening in the white house on that day. that is going to be a fascinating for the see what the court does there. thank you so much, ryan. i want to go now to former republican congressman frances rooney, and gloria borger, our chief political analyst. so, congressman, let me start with you. you know, the committee says they have these details. they are going to at some point put details out that actually show the firsthand reporting that president trump was sitting in the oval office and in the dining room and people came in ivanka trump, twice, pleading for him to do something. he refused to do so as the riot was underway. so, we are hearing this now. and the actual evidence is going to be presented. will any of your colleagues who, thus far, have been unmoved become moveable on this? you know, i don t know what it s going to take to to get republicans to become statesmen, again. thi