House marches toward Trump impeachment; he claims ‘assault’

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. House marched toward a historic evening vote to impeach President Donald Trump on Wednesday, with Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi insisting Congress must “defend democracy” by evicting him from the White House. Trump would be just the third American president to be impeached, a distinctive dark mark on his tenure.

Trump said that despite the Democrats’ patriotic talk, they were actually perpetrating “an assault on America.”

Pelosi invoked the the Pledge of Allegiance and the Preamble to the Constitution in arguing that the Founders’ vision for a republic was threatened by the actions by Trump in the White House.

“Today we are here to defend democracy for the people,″ she said to applause from Democrats in the chamber. “I solemnly and sadly open the debate on the impeachment of the president of the United States.”