Democrats call for Donald Trump impeachment hearings

House Democrats have introduced articles of impeachment against Donald Trump based on the idea that the president is central to a "constitutional crisis."

Six Democrats filed the articles late on Wednesday evening (15 November), pointing to various examples that they claim make Trump unfit to be president.

Backing the articles were Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), Luis Gutiérrez (Ill.), Al Green (Texas), Marcia Fudge (Ohio), John Yarmuth (Ky.) and AdrianoEspaillat (NY).

"We're calling upon the House to begin impeachment hearings," Cohen said. "It's not a call for a vote. It's a call for hearings."

They pointed out several major issues that have so far dogged the presidency, including the firing of the FBI Director James Comey while he was leading the federal investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

They also accused Trump of violating the foreign and domestic emoluments clauses, and undermining the courts and press.

All this on top of the ongoing investigations into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Moscow.

The Republican National Committee described the efforts as "baseless" adding that it wouldn't distract from the president's true aims.

RNC spokesman Michael Ahrens said: "House Democrats lack a positive message and are completely unwilling to work across the aisle, so instead they've decided to support a baseless radical effort that the vast majority of Americans disagree with."

However, senior Democrats have described the move as premature. House minority leader Nancy Pelosi said: "There are a large number of Democrats that believe this president ought to be impeached, we have just made a judgement that the facts aren't there to pursue that."

Trump's time as president has been marked with various scandals and controversies that have at times distracted from the real policy work in Washington.

Struggles to repeal and replace Obamacare and challenges to implement major tax reform have highlighted the struggles of Trump's tenure so far.