Impeachment & Removal: A run-through of what’s happened so far

Here’s a breakdown of some of what’s happened so far in the impeachment inquiry of President Donald J. Trump. Further events have ensued in the past week that aren’t included in this story, but can be found among other resources online — including Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney’s comments over the weekend.

*Video by MSNBC. 

• U.S. President Donald Trump
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky 
• An unidentified whistleblower — an employee of a government agency reporting a violation — voiced concerns about the Trump-Zelensky call.

• To begin the impeachment process, a member of the House of Representatives must introduce an impeachment resolution describing how the president allegedly committed a “high crime or misdemeanor.” Passing this resolution would authorize an inquiry (Pelosi has already launched an inquiry on President Trump’s impeachment).      
• Next, the Speaker of the House — Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) in this case — would direct the House Judiciary Committee to hold a hearing on the impeachment resolution. The outcome would decide whether an impeachment vote should be held on the House floor (the chamber in which House members debate and vote). 
• The majority of the House must approve the article of impeachment for the president to be impeached, although they are not removed from office yet.   
• The impeachment moves to the Senate, where a trial would be held to ultimately determine if the president committed a crime. There is no set procedure for how a trial is to be held. Currently, the Senate is majority Republican, whereas the House is ruled by a Democratic majority, which could introduce disagreement.  
• To help support Trump, he would have the opportunity for legal counsel to represent him in the Senate. 
• Due to the magnitude of a misconduct accusation, the Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court — currently Justice John G. Roberts — would preside over the Senate trial. 
• Senators in this instance act as a jury and are required to listen to the evidence presented from each side and privately come to a conclusion. 
• After the Senators meet, they reconvene to vote on the pertinent question: is the president guilty or not guilty of the crimes he is accused of? 
• The conviction of the president would require a two-thirds vote from the Senate. If the president is found guilty, he would then be removed from office and the vice president would replace him.

• The removal of a U.S. president 

• “The President, Vice President and all Civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.” (U.S. Constitution, Article II, section 4).

• The House’s impeachment

• The means by which the House of Representatives claims a president is guilty of a “high crime” or “misdemeanor.” 

• The Senate’s trial and conviction

• The conviction of the president in a Senate trial, where Senators act as a jury with two sides of counsel representing the defense and the prosecution.

JULY 25 

• President Donald J. Trump contacts Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelensky to inquire about 2020 candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden’s son — Hunter Biden — and his relations with Ukraine. 

AUG. 12 

• An anonymous governmental worker from the intelligence community files an official whistleblower complaint expressing their concern over the July phone call between Trump and Zelensky. The complaint, which spanned nine pages, alleged the White House of trying to cover up the call by placing it on a server that was usually used for matters of national security or warfare.  

SEPT. 13 

• Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee Adam Schiff (D-CA) issues a subpoena for the complaint, which led to mass discussion of the possibility of a quid pro quo — or a give-and-take offer — between Trump and Zelensky regarding Ukraine looking into Biden’s and Trump offering funding to Ukraine. 

SEPT. 24 

• Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) announces the launch of a formal inquiry for the impeachment of President Trump. 

SEPT. 25

• The majority of the call’s transcript is released by the White House. There was no direct offering of a quid pro quo in the transcript, but questions were raised about the context and whether there was an implied quid pro quo. 

SEPT. 26 

• The full whistleblower complaint is released to the public. 

SEPT. 27

• Kurt Volker, Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine, resigns in lieu of the situation. 

OCT. 6

• The legal counsel for the first whistleblower announce a second whistleblower to be represented by them.

• As of October 8, Gordon Sondland — US ambassador to the EU and a Trump donor — was prevented by the state department from testifying to a congressional impeachment hearing. 
• Consequently, the White House released a letter initially stating that they refuse to cooperate with this impeachment inquiry. Instead, they are accusing Democrats of attempting to reverse the 2016 election results. 
• The prevention of Sondland’s cooperation has raised legal questions over the extent of Trump’s executive privilege, which will likely continue and set the course for the inquiry’s continuation.