The White House broke federal law by withholding Congress-approved aid for Ukraine, the Government Accountability Office said
WASHINGTON - The Senate impeachment trial on whether to remove U.S. President Donald Trump from office formally began on Thursday even as a congressional watchdog found that the White House broke the law by withholding security aid for Ukraine approved by Congress.
The 99 senators present signed their assent one by one. One senator - Republican Jim Inhofe - was in his home state of Oklahoma to be with a family member facing a medical issue, according to his office, but was due to sign next week. “Faithful execution of the law does not permit the President to substitute his own policy priorities for those that Congress has enacted into law,” the GAO said on Thursday.
Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts swears in senators during the procedural start of the Senate impeachment trial of U.S. President Donald Trump in this frame grab from video shot in the Senate Chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., January 16, 2020. REUTERS/U.S. Senate TV/Handout via Reuters
Schiff indicated that the House prosecutors may call Lev Parnas, an associate of Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, if the Senate permits testimony in the trial.
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