President Donald Trump is up against an impeachment inquiry, announced in a press conference by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, on Tuesday, Sept. 24. The reasons behind her decision to take political action against the president were his betrayal of the Constitution. She said he used the office for his own political gain, specifically in a conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. 

The breaking point that lead to Pelosi’s decision was a formal whistleblower complaint from a reputable source in the intelligence committee who discovered what happened in the phone conversation between the two presidents. 

“I have received information from multiple U.S. Government officials that the President of the United States is using the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 U.S. election,” the whistleblower wrote in the complaint. 

President Trump allegedly asked President Zelensky to find anything disparaging about former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, in hopes of swaying the 2020 presidential election in his favor. In return for dirt on the Bidens, Trump would resume sending aid money to Ukraine in their war against Russia, notably the $391 million he was withholding.

In the days following the announcement of the impeachment inquiry, President Trump released the transcript of his call with President Zelensky. House Democrats said this proved he suggested the quid pro quo with the Ukrainian leader. 

Even more recently, the House of Republicans stormed a hearing held by the House Intelligence Committee, with Democrats and Republicans already in attendance of the hearing. The Republicans’ protest delayed the next testimony for nearly five hours due to security concerns. 

The Trump administration has denounced the claim that the infamous Ukraine call was an abuse of power. They insist the investigation is a “witch hunt.” President Trump even went so far as to liken the inquiry to a “lynching,” prompting severe backlash.