Democrats move towards impeaching Trump - BBC News
His opponents accuse President Donald Trump of improperly pressing Ukraine to investigate a political rival.
For months now, Democratic leaders in the House of Representatives have been playing a semantics game. They wanted those who supported and those who opposed a formal impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump to both think they were getting what they wanted.

This strategy suggested a fear by Speaker Nancy Pelosi and others that heading down the path to impeachment would put moderate Democrats facing tough 2020 re-election fights at risk.

That calculus appears to have changed, after the rapid drumbeat of new revelations about Mr Trump's contacts with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Now even middle-of-the road politicians are coming out in favour of impeachment proceedings.

The dam has broken. The genie is out of the bottle. Pick your metaphor. The simple fact is that Ms Pelosi - a keen judge of the political mood within her caucus - has made the decision to shift from resisting impeachment to -at the very least - being open to it.

The path forward is uncertain. The administration could back way from its across-the board stonewalling and give Congress some of the information it requests. Opinion surveys could show the latest drama is taking a toll on one party or the other, causing political will to crumble. Or, both sides could dig in for a long, gruelling battle that could drag into the darkest days of winter.