House Launches Formal Impeachment Inquiry

The Whistleblower Complaint

The impeachment inquiry traces its origins to a whistleblower complaint filed in August 2019 by an anonymous intelligence community official. The complaint alleged that President Trump had used a July 25, 2019, phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to pressure Ukraine into investigating former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden. The White House released a rough transcript of the call that confirmed Trump had asked Zelensky to “do us a favor” and look into the Bidens.

Speaker Pelosi’s Announcement

On September 24, 2019, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced a formal impeachment inquiry, reversing months of resistance to the idea from moderate Democrats. Pelosi declared that Trump’s actions represented a “betrayal of his oath of office, betrayal of our national security, and betrayal of the integrity of our elections.” The announcement marked a turning point as multiple House committees began coordinating their investigations under the umbrella of the Intelligence Committee, chaired by Representative Adam Schiff.

The Formalization Vote

On October 31, 2019, the House voted 232-196 to formalize the impeachment inquiry, establishing procedures for public hearings and outlining the rights of the president and his counsel during the process. The vote fell almost entirely along party lines, with no Republicans voting in favor and only two Democrats voting against. Trump and his allies had argued that the inquiry was illegitimate because the full House had not voted to authorize it, making this vote a strategic move by Democrats to undercut that argument.

Witness Testimony

The weeks that followed produced dramatic public testimony from a series of current and former administration officials. Witnesses including Ambassador William Taylor, National Security Council official Fiona Hill, and Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman testified about a coordinated campaign, led by Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, to pressure Ukraine. Their accounts painted a picture of a shadow foreign policy operation that bypassed normal diplomatic channels and conditioned both a White House meeting and military aid on Ukraine’s willingness to announce investigations beneficial to Trump’s reelection.