US President Trump confident Senate will not impeach him: White House

Washington [US], Dec 19 (ANI): US President Donald Trump is confident that the Senate will not vote to impeach him after the House of Representatives voted in favour of the impeachment motion, the White House said in a statement.
US House of Representative on Wednesday voted to support the two articles of impeachment against President Trump. According to CNN, on the first article of impeachment -- abuse of power -- 230 voted in favour and 197 voted against it.
The trail is the Republican-controlled Senate is likely to begin in January, Al Jazeera reported. However, that is only after House Democrats send articles of impeachment to the Senate.
In order to impeach the president in the Senate 67-vote majority would be required. However, the outcome seems unlikely. The Senate is comprised of 53 Republicans and 45 Democrats and two independents who caucus with the Democrats.
"The President is confident the Senate will restore regular order, fairness, and due process, and will continue to work tirelessly to address the needs and priorities of the American people, as he has since the day he took office," tweeted White House.
"The American people are not fooled by this disgraceful behaviour. They understand fairness, due process, and substantial, reliable evidence are required before any American should be charged with wrongdoing--and certainly before impeaching a duly elected President," it added.
After the House voted, White House spokesperson Stephanie Grisham launched a scathing attack against Democrats and called the impeachment proceedings "most shameful political episodes". She accused Democrats of pushing illegitimate articles of impeachment against the President through the House of Representatives.
"Throughout the House Democrats' entire sham impeachment, the President was denied fundamental fairness and due process under the law. The House blatantly ignored precedent and conducted the inquiry in secrecy behind closed doors so that Chairman Adam Schiff and his partisan political cronies could selectively leak information to their partners in the media to push a false narrative," she said in a statement.
It has been nearly three months since House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that Democrats would launch an impeachment inquiry after an anonymous whistleblower complaint alleged that Trump had solicited interference in a July phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to help his 2020 re-election campaign.
Democrats said their investigation revealed a months-long campaign directed by the President and carried out by his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani for Ukraine to announce an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden, along with the 2016 election.
The President withheld US security aid and a one-on-one meeting that Zelensky sought, they say, and then obstructed the investigation by defying congressional subpoenas across the administration.
"Very sadly, the facts have made clear that the President abused his power for his own personal, political benefit and that he obstructed Congress as he demanded that he is above accountability, above the Constitution and above the American people," Pelosi said in a letter to colleagues Tuesday.
"During this very prayerful moment in our nation's history, we must honour our oath to support and defend our Constitution from all enemies, foreign and domestic," the letter read. (ANI)