Pelosi orders Congress to draw up articles of impeachment against president for ‘absuing power for his personal benefit’

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she has instructed top Democrats to proceed with drawing up articles of impeachment against President Trump, a major step in their effort to remove the president from office.

“The facts are uncontested. The president abused power for his personal benefit at the expense of national security by withholding military aid and crucial Oval Office meeting in exchange for an announcement of an investigation into his political rival,” she said at a short press conference on Capitol Hill.

Her announcement followed Wednesday’s combative seven-hour House Judiciary Committee hearing at which three academic legal experts agreed that Mr Trump’s apparent attempt to extort a quid pro quo from Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky met the standard for impeachment in a fiery session defined by Republican obstruction and bickering.