Trump's impeachment inquiry: roadmap and implications
The impeachment process will take months to unfold and its impact on markets unpredictable and uncertain.
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THE US Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, announced earlier this week that the House of Representatives will launch an official impeachment inquiry into President Trump.
This represents a dramatic turn over the last few weeks. Being the Democratic House leader, Ms Pelosi was not supportive of an impeachment effort before. The odds of removing Mr Trump from office were always next to zero with the Republicans controlling the Senate and a two-thirds Senate super majority needed to convict him. Moreover, the negative politics associated with impeachment proceedings is unpopular with voters, and the Democrats risk galvanising Mr Trump's support base before the 2020 presidential election.
What changed for the Democrats, however, was a whistleblower report that Mr Trump had abused his power through his interactions with the Ukrainian president, which involved issues such as US aid to Ukraine and a corruption investigation of Democratic presidential hopeful Vice President Biden's son.
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