Nadler Says Trump Committed ‘Abuse of Power’ and ‘Obstruction of Congress’

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) listens next to House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) during a press conference to announce articles of impeachment for President Donald Trump during a press conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Dec. 10, 2019. Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

House Democrats announced on Tuesday two articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump over his alleged conduct toward Ukraine.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), and other relevant committee leaders made the announcement.

Nadler said in the press conference that Trump is being accused of “committing high crimes and misdemeanors” including “abuse of power.”

The second article of impeachment is “obstruction of Congress,” Nadler said, adding that Trump allegedly declared himself above “accountability” and Congress. “No one is above the law,” he said.

Party lawmakers scheduled a 9 a.m. announcement to announce “the next steps” in the impeachment probe.

A hearing on Monday in the Judiciary Committee featured testimony from Republican and Democrat lawyers following a 300-page impeachment report authorized by Schiff.

“In abusing his office in this manner, and in obstructing the investigation that followed, we know that President Trump has put himself before his country,” Nadler said following Monday’s hearing.

Democrats have alleged Trump misused his office by withholding $400 million to Ukraine in exchange for investigations into a potential 2020 rival, former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden. The younger Biden sat on the board of Ukrainian energy firm Burisma Holdings while his father was in office. The elder Biden also had bragged in a video that he was able to withhold $1 billion in aid to Ukraine in order to get a prosecutor, Viktor Shokin, fired.

But Democrats said that testimony from State Department and National Security Council officials showed that Trump waged a pressure campaign to secure an investigation, construing a misuse of power.

Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksy have both denied the allegations.

On Tuesday morning, Trump wrote that “to Impeach a President who has proven through results, including producing perhaps the strongest economy in our country’s history, to have one of the most successful presidencies ever, and most importantly, who has done NOTHING wrong, is sheer Political Madness!”

Several weeks ago, the president said he wants the impeachment process to move forward so he can get a Senate trial where he will call up relevant witnesses, including Schiff.

“Hardworking Americans know this sham is simply the dems weaponizing impeachment to try & undermine @realDonaldTrump, who has done nothing but fulfill the promises he ran on & fight for our country. Their behavior is shameful, but this will only serve to further unify our party,” White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said on Tuesday morning.