Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


Impeachment Battle Mirrors US Political Divide

Katherine Gypson

   CAPITOL HILL - Two weeks of public hearings in the impeachment inquiry
   into President Donald Trump's dealings with Ukraine have deepened the
   already sharp divide between Democrats and Republicans and have
   prompted many lawmakers to place more of a premium on party loyalty
   than the quality of testimony, some political analysts say.
   With 2020 presidential and congressional elections looming, the stakes
   couldn't be higher for the two parties. And lawmakers are adhering
   closely to the guidance of their party leaders.
   In the recent U.S. House vote setting procedures for the public phase
   of the impeachment inquiry, not a single Republican defected to vote
   with the Democrats in favor of formalizing the inquiry. Only two
   Democrats voted against it.
   Those numbers are in stark contrast to the 1998 vote formalizing the
   impeachment inquiry of then-Democratic President Bill Clinton. In that
   vote, 31 members of the president's own party agreed with his
   Republican opponents' decision to launch the investigation.
   Competing narratives
   Since the start of the public phase of the inquiry into whether Trump
   tried to pressure the Ukrainian government into announcing an
   investigation of Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, while
   withholding nearly $400 million of military aid to Ukraine, Democrats
   and Republicans seemingly have operated in parallel universes.
   Testimony has been twisted into competing narratives.

.