As revelations about Donald Trump's self-confirmed pressuring of Ukraine to launch a probe of his potential 2020 election opponent continue to mount, Congress appears to be taking action.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is now expected to make a public announcement at 5 PM ET, after an afternoon of brief meetings with Democratic House chairs, leadership, and the wider caucus. The Washington Post is reporting that Pelosi will announce that the House will open a formal impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump. Multiple journalists are reporting that she is also now personally in favor of impeachment.
The inquiry may take the form of a select committee targeting the Ukraine-related charges while the House Judiciary continues its other Trump probes.
Support for a formal impeachment inquiry has surged among House Democrats, with at least 171 representatives now backing it.
Trump is responding to the likely impeachment effort by now claiming he will release a complete transcript of his conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. This is a misdirection: House and Senate committees are demanding they be given the unredacted whistleblower complaint, citing unknown improprieties but allegedly centering on a "pattern of behavior" relating to Ukraine and "urgent" intelligence concerns.