Putin Says Trump Will Survive Impeachment Proceedings

Russian President Vladimir Putin fielded questions at his annual end-of-year news conference in Moscow on Thursday, and while Putin usually talks about domestic issues, in this conference he was bombarded with questions on foreign policy and relations with Washington. 

Russian President Vladimir #Putin holds its 15th annual press conference since 2001 in Moscow today. Over 1895 correspondents from all over the world are invited. Click the short video to see how reporters attempt to gain an opportunity to raise their questions. #Russia pic.twitter.com/quTV8Mg9cC

— China Daily (@ChinaDaily) December 19, 2019

The event began around 4 am est. and can last for several hours.Notably, around 5 am est., Putin was asked a series of questions about his thoughts on the impeachment proceedings of President Trump. 

In response, Putin denounced the impeachment proceedings as “spurious” and said the US Senate is unlikely to remove Trump. He said Trump’s presidency is far from over as Republican lawmakers “are unlikely to want to drive out of power a representative of their own party.” 

Putin on #Trump impeachment: US President unlikely to be voted out of office#PutinPresser

LIVE UPDATES: https://t.co/BSfLY6t0Ys
LIVE on YouTube: https://t.co/MIGdAO8aqA pic.twitter.com/NHbtFcj4Bb

— RT (@RT_com) December 19, 2019

Putin said the Democratic push for impeachment is “part of the ongoing domestic political battle” in Washington.

• RUSSIA’S PUTIN, ASKED ABOUT IMPEACHMENT VOTE AGAINST DONALD TRUMP, SAYS I AM NOT SURE IT’S END OF TRUMP’S PRESIDENCY YET
• RUSSIA’S PUTIN, ASKED ABOUT IMPEACHMENT VOTE AGAINST DONALD TRUMP, SAYS ALLEGATIONS AGAINST HIM ARE DREAMT UP
• RUSSIA’S PUTIN SAYS US SENATE IS UNLIKELY TO REMOVE TRUMP FROM PRESIDENCY

As expected, late on Wednesday, the US House voted to impeach Trump, who joins Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton as the only presidents to be impeached since the adoption of the Constitution in 1788.) 

And the result after 219 speakers from both sides of the aisle, as most expected, all Republicans voted against impeachment, all Democrats except three voted for the first article of impeachment…

Article 1 – Abuse Of Power – vote 230 in favor, 197 opposed, 1 present:

All Republicans voted against impeachment, all Democrats except four voted for the second article of impeachment…

Article 2 – Obstruction – vote:

As to what happens next, we go to Constitution: A president who has been impeached by the House can still serve as president. It’s up to the Senate to hold a trial to decide whether to remove him from office. And as everyone knows by now, in the Senate the impeachment drive will die, the only question when will Nancy Pelosi hand over the impeachment process to the upper chamber of Congress.