Democrats and Republicans Clash Over Impeachment As Trump And Pelosi Send Out Letters

Ahead of the House of Representatives vote on the impeachment articles on Wednesday, the Democratic and Republican leaders of the Congress engaged in a war of words on Tuesday.

Trump Writes To Pelosi

President Donald Trump sent a scathing letter to the Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), calling the impeachment inquiry against him an " unconstitutional abuse of power."

Trump said that his actions under consideration constituted "no crimes, no misdemeanors, and no offenses whatsoever," and that the Democrats are "declaring open war on American Democracy."

The president is facing impeachment charges based on his phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, whom he allegedly attempted to blackmail into investigating political rival and Democratic 2020 presidential candidate Joe Biden.

Trump said that his conversation with Zelensky was deliberately "misquoted, mischaracterized, and fraudulently misrepresented."

"This is nothing more than an illegal, partisan attempted coup that will, based on recent sentiment, badly fail at the voting booth. You are not just after me, as President, you are after the entire Republican Party," Trump said.

Pelosi Writes To Democrats

Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) said that Trump's letter "essentially amounts to one long Twitter rant," as reported by the Washington Post.

"I mean, are you kidding me?" McGovern said, on Trump comparing his impeachment trial to Salem witch hunts.

"Innocent people were tortured and hung. … For the president to say that he is being treated worse than the Salem witch trials is unhinged."

House Speaker Pelosi told CNN that she had seen the essence of the letter sent to her, and "it's really sick."

"I don't have a reaction. It's ridiculous," she told CNN.

The democratic leader did, however, send out another letter later in the day, urging all Democrats to vote for the impeachment, the Post reported.

"When the House convenes to take the impeachment vote tomorrow morning, I urge each of you to join me on the Floor," Pelosi said in the letter, according to the Post.

"Our constituents look to us to be respectful of the Constitution and Defenders of our Democracy, and to proceed in a manner worthy of our oath of office to support and defend the Constitution of the [U.S.]"

Senate Leaders Clash Over Request For Witnesses

Meanwhile, the Senate Democrats and Republicans face similar disagreements as part of the impeachment proceedings, which are expected to begin in January after the House vote.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday rejected Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's (D-N.Y.) request to subpoena new witnesses for the impeachment proceedings, the Post reported.

"We certainly do not need jurors to start brainstorming witness lists for the prosecution," McConnell said in his response to Schumer's request to subpoena acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, and former national security adviser John Bolton among others.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of the White House