Ever since President Donald Trump was elected in 2016, his name has been headlining newspapers, magazines and news outlets with outrageous allegations of scandals and exposed secrets. Arguably, the most controversial topic in American news right now is the impeachment hearing.  However, many believe that these accusations are actually a mask for the true purpose of this investigation: the Democratic party’s revenge for losing the 2016 election. 

After months of this wearisome investigation, The House of Representatives finally voted on the two articles of impeachment against President Trump on Wednesday, December 18, 2019. The New York Times reported that the house voted 230-197 for Article I (Abuse of Power) and 229-198 for Article II (Obstruction of Congress); with the majority of the democrats approving the two articles of impeachment against the president. 

While this president is clearly divisive, impeachment is serious and requires very specific criteria to be met in order to remove a sitting president.  In order for the president, vice president and other high-status government employees to be impeached, Congress must have enough votes from lawmakers who agree that the person being put on trial has committed either treason, bribery, and/or other high crimes and misdemeanors. Once the articles have been established, the House of Representatives votes first. Now that the House has voted, the trial will go to the Senate to be voted upon. If two-thirds of the Senate votes in favor of impeachment, then Trump will be impeached and removed from office. If the two-thirds allotment is not met, then Trump remains in office.

Since 2016, opponents of the president have relentlessly worked to find ways to remove Trump from office, but have never been successful.  However, recently baseless accusations have been made against the president based on a WhistleBlower complaint, ultimately leading to impeachment hearings. An anonymous intelligence officer within the government filed a complaint against President Trump, claiming he used his position of power to contact the leader of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, asking Zelenksy to help lead an investigation against one of Trump’s rivals, democratic candidate Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden.  Trump is then accused of withholding millions of dollars in aid meant for Ukraine until Zelensky agreed to comply with Trump’s request. 

Since the complaint was released, there have been numerous claims against the President, stating he committed treason, bribery, quid pro quo,  extortion; the list goes on. According to Fox News, the Criminal Division of the Justice Department closely studied the conversation between Trump and Zelenky, and stated that no crimes of any kind were discovered on the phone call. 

The Constitution defines treason as  “Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States, levies war against them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere, is guilty of treason”. Nowadays, treason is thought of as committing acts that are disloyal to one’s country. Anyone who has seen or heard Trump’s campaign knows how truly dedicated he is to reconstructing the nation and putting its citizens’ well being before his own. In 2016 at the Republican National Convention Trump pledged that “The American People will come first once again. My plan will begin with safety at home – which means safe neighborhoods, secure borders, and protection from terrorism. There can be no prosperity without law and order”. 

However, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democrat officials continue to claim that Trump’s request to the Ukrainian government is a treasonous act against the United States. However, according to Fox News, under the Attorney General’s official investigation, President Trump has every right to contact foreign governments for assistance; he was merely exercising his powers, not abusing them. The President should not be shamed for trying to reveal his adversaries’ corrupt actions that have gone unpunished, from Elizabeth Warren falsifying her Native American heritage, to Hillary Clinton exchanging classified government information on a private email account. 

Trump may not be a perfect person, no such thing exists; but no one has ever fought so hard for a nation and its citizens, especially while enduring hateful criticism from the media. This impeachment has shown the country that left-leaning officials are obsessed with impeaching a president with no real evidence against him, rather than solving more important problems at hand, such as the climate or opioid crisis. 

There is no doubt that Trump’s presidency was a slap in the face for many Americans, enraging some and exciting others. Regardless of peoples’ opinions, the President was chosen by the people, and citizens should work together with what they’ve got instead of creating more of a political divide and undoing America’s democracy. The shameful behavior demonstrated by the Democrats in our government has led House Minority leader Kevin Mccarthy, to ask the question all American’s should be asking themselves: “Will we let impeachment become an exercise of raw political power, regardless if it damages our country? Or will we protect the proper grounds and process for impeachment now and in the future?”