On Tuesday, Sept. 24, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced a formal impeachment inquiry against President Trump and instructed House committees to move forward under that “umbrella.” This announcement came after a whistleblower complaint was given to Congress, but there are other events and factors that led to this announcement from Speaker Pelosi, who has been hesitant to formally begin impeachment in the past. 

The whistleblower complaint that ultimately led to this decision was regarding a phone call in late July between President Trump and the Ukrainian President. In this phone call Trump urged the Ukrainian President to look into former Vice President, and 2020 Democratic hopeful Joe Biden’s son. The President also mentioned the Attorney General, saying to the Ukrainian President, according to the call record, “whatever you can do with the Attorney General would be great.”

President Trump also halted aid to Ukraine, though officials deny any connection between this action and the President asking the Ukrainian President to look into Biden’s son.

Also leading up the formal impeachment inquiry, was the release of an op-ed in the Washington Post. This op-ed was written by seven freshmen congresspersons who are all from purple, or swing districts. These areas have both Democratic and Republican support. The op-ed was published in the Washington Post on Monday, Sept. 23, and supported an impeachment inquiry, which was announced the next day. 

“The President must be held accountable,” Speaker Pelosi said. “No one is above the law.”

You can read the op-ed written by the freshmen congresspersons here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/09/24/seven-freshman-democrats-these-allegations-are-threat-all-we-have-sworn-protect/