Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi speaks to the media about the impeachment inquiry into US President Donald Trump, on Capitol Hill in Washington, November 14, 2019. Photo: IC

Donald Trump's presidency is on a bumpy ride. Russiagate - allegations that Russian government interfered in the 2016 US presidential election - had been hovering over the maverick leader since he assumed office. Now, he is confronting another scandal - Ukrainegate, in which he allegedly tried to persuade his Ukrainian counterpart to investigate former US vice president and 2020 presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son who has business interests in the country. The case has led to an impeachment inquiry against Trump. Since the impeachment hearings were broadcast live, the scandal is getting increasingly murky. 

When political struggles are bonded with media hype, any subtle detail can be captured. Now the political infighting has become intertwined with public divisions in the US. No matter how the impeachment turns out, it will lead to widening gap in US politics and society, affecting the upcoming US presidential election. 

Both Democratic and Republican parties have been sticking to their own arguments over the impeachment, which has turned the case into a political "Rashomon." The Democratic Party won't give up any opportunity to attack Trump. Ukrainegate is currently its ace in the hole. 

During a public hearing in the Congress on Trump's impeachment on Friday, Marie Yovanovitch, former US ambassador to Ukraine who was removed from her position this spring, testified that she was accused of "blocking efforts to investigate Democrats like former Vice President Joe Biden," reported CNN. The Wall Street Journal commented, "Democrats used her appearance Friday to argue that Mr Trump sought her removal in order to clear the way for a pressure campaign in Ukraine that could benefit the president politically." 

Yovanovitch is regarded as a respected career diplomat in the US and is the highest-ranked female ambassador at the State Department. Her case of being fired by Trump is believed to have more stories that can be dug up. Democrats might thus have evidence to impeach the sitting president. Republican Adam Schiff, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, asked, "The question before us is not whether Donald Trump could recall an American ambassador with a stellar reputation for fighting corruption in Ukraine, but why would he want to?" He answered his own question by saying Yovanovitch was fired because she was seen as an obstacle to Trump's personal agenda. 

The Republican Party has been strongly opposing accusations by Democrats. The fate of Trump is closely linked with the party's destiny. Trump himself tweeted Yovanovitch was removed because of her incompetence, saying "everywhere Marie Yovanovitch went turned bad. She started off in Somalia, how did that go?" adding "it is a US President's absolute right to appoint ambassadors." 

Trump has many times denied accusations of improper behavior against him, stressing the impeachment hearings are a "witch hunt." On November 14, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said, "Each week will be something new, because each time they fail to prove anything," noting Democrats are framing Trump because they are afraid to face him at the ballot box. 

Given the procedure of impeachment, the hearings will be led by the House Judiciary Committee later this month, which will likely draft specific articles of impeachment against Trump. The articles of impeachment approved by the committee will then be sent "to the full House to be voted on" and "Democrats hope to hold those votes before Christmas," according to US media Vox. If the House approves articles of impeachment, the case would move to the Republican-led Senate for a trial. Since the GOP holds the majority seats in Senate, it is unlikely that the Senate would vote to convict Trump.

For Democrats, even though the impeachment against Trump will eventually fail, a negative reputation of Trump could be shaped during the process, which would lead to a decreasing approval rating. While Republicans spare no effort to defend Trump, they are actually trying to stabilize public opinion. It is a battle to win hearts of Americans and the impeachment is only one of the tools amid the political infighting. 

The author is director of the International Security Study Center at China Foreign Affairs University. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn