becomes third president to face trial in senate · which will have final say 10 months before mr....
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BECOMES THIRD PRESIDENT TO FACE TRIAL IN SENATE
VOL. CLXIX . . . No. 58,546 © 2019 The New York Times Company NEW YORK, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2019
C M Y K Nxxx,2019-12-19,A,001,Bs-4C,E2
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George T. Conway III, SteveSchmidt, John Weaver andRick Wilson PAGE A31
EDITORIAL, OP-ED A30-31
Willets Point, a Queens neighborhood ofsqualid streets lined with auto repairshops near Citi Field, La Guardia Air-port and the National Tennis Center,finally seems about to be tamed.
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SPORTSTHURSDAY B9-14
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Silent Night, Sustainable Night
WASHINGTON — It’s not as ifanyone was expecting a normalWednesday to materialize on Cap-itol Hill. Presidents don’t get im-peached every day, just like theygenerally don’t write six-page ha-rangues charging Democrats with“declaring open war on AmericanDemocracy”(that was Tuesday)or tweet that Speaker Nancy Pelo-si’s “teeth were falling out of hermouth” (that was Sunday).
This is what Washington isdealing with now: the daily ac-ceptance that whatever notions ofnormal and not normal that usedto exist have been scrambled be-yond recognition. It has been likethis for nearly three years.
Still, Wednesday — a clear andcold December morning — hitwith a special punch. It was one ofthose “step back” days when his-tory stands out from the pile ofroutine chaos. The 45th presidentof the United States would be im-peached on Wednesday. Even in anonstop news cycle, that’s a full-stop sentence. “Impeachment”can’t be brushed off like a sub-poena.
It’s happened only twice before.President Trump seemed espe-cially haunted by the “very uglyword, impeachment,” as he put itin his letter to the Democrats. Helikened his coming impeachmentto an “attempted coup,” an “elec-tion-nullification scheme” and a“lynching,” among other things.
In Washington,The Abnormal
Feels RoutineBy MARK LEIBOVICH
and KATIE ROGERS
Continued on Page A15
On a warm summer eveninglast year, Lev Parnas steppedaboard a private cruise aroundNew York Harbor for a gatheringof some of Rudolph W. Giuliani’sclosest friends.
The passengers sipped wineand cocktails while they sailedpast the Statue of Liberty, singingalong as another guest, the enter-tainer Joe Piscopo, belted out“Theme from New York, NewYork.” Mr. Giuliani, a personallawyer to President Trump, re-laxed on the open deck in a brightblue polo shirt as the sun set overLower Manhattan, a video of theevent shows.
The August 2018 cruise, won ina charity auction, came at a piv-otal moment in Mr. Giuliani’s rela-tionship with Mr. Parnas and hisassociate Igor Fruman, both Sovi-et-born businessmen from Floridawho were among the newest en-trants to his circle.
Mr. Parnas had recently struckup a friendship with Mr. Giulianiwhile recruiting him for a busi-ness deal, but now they were onthe verge of something bigger:teaming to unearth damaging in-formation on Mr. Trump’s politicalrivals.
In the coming months, Mr. Par-nas and Mr. Fruman helped Mr.Giuliani carry out a shadow diplo-macy campaign, sweeping them
‘Lev and Igor’:Putting Ukraine
On the AgendaThis article is by Michael Roth-
feld, Ben Protess, William K. Rash-baum, Kenneth P. Vogel and AndrewE. Kramer.
Continued on Page A18
WASHINGTON — The Houseof Representatives on Wednesdayimpeached President Trump forabuse of power and obstruction ofCongress, making him the thirdpresident in history to be chargedwith committing high crimes andmisdemeanors and face removalby the Senate.
On a day of constitutional con-sequence and raging partisan ten-sion, the votes on the two articlesof impeachment fell largely alongparty lines, after a bitter debatethat stretched into the eveningand reflected the deep polariza-tion gripping American politics inthe Trump era.
Only two Democrats opposedthe article on abuse of power,which accused Mr. Trump of cor-ruptly using the levers of govern-ment to solicit election assistancefrom Ukraine in the form of inves-tigations to discredit his Demo-cratic political rivals. Republicanswere united in opposition. Itpassed 230 to 197, with SpeakerNancy Pelosi gaveling the vote toa close from the House rostrum.
On the second charge, obstruc-tion of Congress, a third Democratjoined Republicans in opposition.The vote was 229 to 198.
The impeachment votes set thestage for a historic trial beginningearly next year in the Senate,which will have final say — 10months before Mr. Trump facesre-election — on whether to acquitthe 45th president or convict andremove him from office. The tim-ing was uncertain, after Ms. Pelosisuggested late Wednesday thatshe might wait to send the articlesto the Senate, holding them out asleverage in a negotiation on theterms of a trial.
Acquittal in the Republican-controlled chamber may be likely,but the proceeding is certain tofurther aggravate the political andcultural fault lines in the countrythat Mr. Trump’s presidency hasbrought into dramatic relief. Re-gardless of the outcome, the im-peachment votes in the House putan indelible stain on Mr. Trump’spresidency that cannot be wipedfrom the public consciousnesswith a barrage of tweets or an an-gry tirade in front of thousands ofhis cheering supporters at a cam-paign rally.
On Wednesday, Democratscharacterized his impeachmentas an urgent action to stop a cor-rupt president whose misdeedshad unfolded in plain view fromdamaging the United States anyfurther.
“Over the course of the lastthree months, we have found in-controvertible evidence that Pres-ident Trump abused his power bypressuring the newly electedpresident of Ukraine to announcean investigation into President
After Bitter Fight, House Adopts Chargesof Abuse of Power and Obstruction
By NICHOLAS FANDOS and MICHAEL D. SHEAR
PETE MAROVICH FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
Voting on the second article.ERIN SCHAFF/THE NEW YORK TIMES
Continued on Page A13
President Trump denounced his Democratic accusers during a rally on Wednesday in Battle Creek, Mich. “There’s no crime,” he said.
A federal appeals court sent the caseback to a federal district judge in Texasto determine if other parts of the Af-fordable Care Act can stand. PAGE A21
NATIONAL A11-23
Health Mandate Struck Down
BATTLE CREEK, Mich. —President Trump angrily re-sponded to the impeachment hehad long been dreading onWednesday, lashing out at hisDemocratic accusers in a ram-bling two-hour speech and callingfor their defeat in November.
Moments after the Housepassed two articles of impeach-ment against him, he told a cam-paign rally in a state he won in2016 that is crucial to his re-elec-tion that the vote was an attemptto “nullify the ballots of tens ofmillions of patriotic Americans.”
But in his mostly unscripted re-marks, Mr. Trump claimed he wasenjoying himself.
“They said there’s no crime,” hesaid. “There’s no crime. I’m thefirst person to ever get impeachedand there’s no crime. I feel guilty.It’s impeachment lite.”
He paused before adding, “Idon’t know about you, but I’m hav-ing a good time.”
His rejoinder presented the re-markable image of a combativepresident standing unbowed be-fore his core supporters even ashe became the third in Americanhistory to be impeached.
But more often he seemed em-bittered, mocking the physical ap-pearance of his rivals, attackingthe news media, calling a femaleprotester a “slob” and a “disgust-ing person,” and suggesting that
Rally Becomes‘A Good Time’
To Vent AngerThis article is by Michael Crowley,
Annie Karni and Maggie Ha-berman.
Continued on Page A21
WASHINGTON — For themost unpredictable of presidents,it was the most predictable ofoutcomes. Is anyone really sur-prised that President Trump wasimpeached? His defiant disre-gard for red lines arguably madehim an impeachment waiting tohappen.
From the day he took office,Mr. Trump made clear that hewould not abide by the conven-tions of the system he inherited.So perhaps it was inevitable thatat some point he would go too farfor the opposition party, leadingto a historic day of debate on theHouse floor where he was alter-nately depicted as a constitu-tional villain or victim.
The proximate charge as Dem-ocrats impeached him for highcrimes and misdemeanors onparty-line votes Wednesdaynight was the president’s cam-paign to pressure Ukraine tohelp him against his domesticpolitical rivals while withholdingsecurity aid. But long beforeUkraine consumed the capital,Mr. Trump had sought to bendthe instruments of governmentto his own purposes even if itmeant pushing boundaries thathad been sacrosanct for a gener-ation.
Over nearly three years inoffice, he has become the mostpolarizing figure in a countrystewing in toxic politics. He haspunished enemies and, many
argue, undermined democraticinstitutions. Disregarding advicethat restrained other presidents,Mr. Trump kept his real estatebusiness despite the Constitu-tion’s emoluments clause, paidhush money to an alleged par-amour and sought to impedeinvestigations that threatenedhim.
His constant stream of false-hoods, including about his deal-ings with Ukraine, underminedhis credibility both at home andabroad, even as his supporterssaw him as a challenger to acorrupt status quo subjected topartisan persecution.
Impeachments come at timesof tumult, when pent-up pres-
NEWS ANALYSIS
A Crossroads for a Nation in TumultBy PETER BAKER
Speaker Nancy Pelosi during the voting. She called it “tragic” that impeachment was necessary.ERIN SCHAFF/THE NEW YORK TIMES
Continued on Page A16
Late EditionToday, plenty of sunshine, brisk,colder, high 27. Tonight, clear skies,cold, low 21. Tomorrow, sunny skies,not as cold of an afternoon, high 34.Weather map appears on Page B10.
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