A day before the House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on whether to impeach Donald Trump, the president sent a six-page, wide-ranging letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and accused her of “declaring open war on American Democracy.”
“By proceeding with your invalid impeachment, you are violating your oaths of office, you are breaking your allegiance to the Constitution, and you are declaring open war on American Democracy,” Trump wrote. “You have cheapened the importance of the very ugly word, impeachment!”
In the letter, Trump continued to assert that he did not do anything wrong in his dealings with Ukraine and also said that “more due process was afforded to those accused in the Salem Witch Trials.”
“It is a terrible thing you are doing, but you will have to live with it, not I!” he continued.
On Wednesday, the House will vote on two articles of impeachment — abuse of power and obstruction of Congress — and determine whether to impeach Trump. If they do so, Trump will be the third president in U.S. history to have been impeached. Whether Trump will ultimately be removed from office, however, will be up to the Senate, which will conduct a trial and hold a vote.
Read the full letter from Trump, with annotation from the New York Times, here.