Donald Trump Gets Clean Chit in Impeachment Trial

In what comes across as a major relief for American President Donald Trump, he has been cleared in his impeachment trial, ending a congressional bid to remove him from office, an issue that bitterly divided the United States.

The charges focused on Trump's request that Kyiv, an Ukrainian city, launch an investigation into alleged corruption done by Joe Biden, a Democratic White House candidate, and his son Hunter Biden.

Trump had argued that Hunter improperly held a board position with a Ukrainian natural gas firm while his father was the US vice-president, in charge of American-Ukrainian relations.

Democrats accused Trump of abusing his power by withholding $391m in security aid to influence Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky into digging up dirt on the Bidens.

The whole thing started when Trump made a phone call on July 25 this year in which he allegedly asked Zelensky to "do us a favour".

Following a complaint from an anonymous government whistle-blower, Democrats launched their investigation in September, compiling a 28,000-page report.

He was also accused of obstructing the Congress after the White House blocked testimony and documents sought by the House impeachment investigators.

The Senate, run by the president's fellow Republicans, voted to acquit him 52-48 on charges of abuse of power and 53-47 on obstruction of Congress.

In its vote on Wednesday, the Senate decided not to remove Trump from office on charges arising from his dealings with Ukraine. Notably, in November, Trump will be the first impeached president to go for an election.

Democrats were certainly not happy with the proceedings. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Trump remains "an ongoing threat to American democracy" and that Senate Republicans had "normalised lawlessness".