UPDATE: The U.S. House has impeached President Donald Trump on a charge he abused the power of his office to investigate a political rival ahead of the 2020 election.
Trump becomes the third president in U.S. history to be impeached. The House then approved a second charge, obstruction of Congress.
Democrats control the House, and the voting was mostly along party lines.
The charges against Trump will next go to the Republican-controlled Senate for a trial in January.
Trump, who says he's done nothing wrong, would almost certainly be acquitted there.
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Original Story: President Donald Trump is on the cusp of being impeached by the House, with a historic debate set to begin on charges he abused his power and obstructed Congress.
Votes that will leave a defining mark on Trump's tenure at the White House are expected by Wednesday evening.
President Trump sent a fiery letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Tuesday, denouncing what he called the "vicious crusade” against him.
But a tally compiled by The Associated Press shows Pelosi has the votes to approve the charges.
Republicans already are working on how to conduct a trial in January.
The final vote by the House on the two articles, one alleging he abused his power and the second alleging he obstructed Congress, is set to take place later Wednesday.
If the articles are approved by the lower chamber, Trump will become the third president in U.S. history to be impeached.
President Trump would join Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton as the only presidents to be impeached since the adoption of the Constitution in 1788. Johnson was impeached in 1868 and Clinton in 1999, and both were acquitted in Senate trials.
CBS News reports that in emailed statement to the network, Vice President Mike Pence's press secretary Katie Waldman called Wednesday's impeachment vote a "stain on our democracy."
The vice president's office singled out House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff, who on Tuesday reiterated a demand for the declassification of additional testimony from one of Pence's aides who testified in November.
"Adam Schiff has devalued and diminished the House of Representatives by running a sham process rooted in mistruths and falsehoods," Pence's office said. "Today's vote is a culmination of hearsay, suppositions, and pre-conceived ideas perpetuated by Adam Schiff who has shown to be a liar and has proven to be repeatedly discredited by his own statements. This vote is a stain on our democracy and is a desperate politicization of our republic by Democrats who put party before country."
Representative Dina Titus of Nevada’s First Congressional District submitting the following statement into the Congressional Record about her decision to vote to impeach President Donald Trump:
“For 35 years I taught American government to university students,” said Congresswoman Titus (NV-1). “When we discussed impeachment, I never thought I’d actually be participating in the process, but this president has left us no choice.
“He tried to rig the 2020 elections by soliciting foreign interference, and then engaged in an unprecedented cover-up once he got caught. No president can be permitted to abuse the power of the office for personal, political gain, nor try to hide his misdeeds by demanding that his subordinates withhold key documents and refuse to testify before Congress.
“President Trump’s allies have offered lots of crazy excuses for why he shouldn’t be impeached, but even they will not deny that he wouldn’t have asked Ukraine to investigate Biden if the former Vice President weren’t a leading candidate for president.
“I have analyzed the evidence thoroughly. It is consistent and convincing. That is why I am casting my vote to impeach President Trump.”
Nevada Rep. Mark Amodei released this statement ahead of the historic vote:
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(The Associated Press, CBS News contributed to this report.)
