The road to impeachment: Beginning of the end or road to re-election?

The beginning of the end or the road to re-election? The Democrats are finally pressing the trigger on impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump. The US president was quick to call it a witch hunt and authorised the release of the transcript of his conversation with Ukraine's new president, the one where a whistleblower claims Trump asked Volodymyr Zelenskiy eight times to probe the activities in that country of Joe Biden's son.

How strong is the case? Is asking a foreign leader to dig up dirt on your rivals a breach of the president's constitutional oath?It took a lot of soul searching and a lot of pressure from her left flank for the most powerful Democrat in Washington to launch impeachment proceedings. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi knows she has virtually no chance of seeing a Republican-controlled US Senate convert an eventual impeachment into dismissal by a two-thirds majority. Will taking a stand help or hurt the opposition to Trump as we head into 2020 presidential campaign?On that score, what is the optics among voters torn between those aghast over politicians willing to test the laws of their own land and those who see rulings by parliaments or judges as obstructions of the will of the people?Produced by Alessandro XENOS, Juliette LAURAIN and Ingri BERGO

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