Pres. Trump answers the House impeachment summons asking for both articles of impeachment to be rejected

THE HONORABLE DONALD J. TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, HEREBY RESPONDS:

 The Articles of Impeachment submitted by House Democrats are a dangerous attack on the right of the American people to freely choose their President.  This is a brazen and unlawful attempt to overturn the results of the 2016 election and interfere with the 2020 election—now just months away.  The highly partisan and reckless obsession with impeaching the President began the day he was inaugurated and continues to this day.  

Click here to read the full answer. 

 BACKGROUND

Ahead of the  Senate impeachment trial of Pres. Donald J. Trump, House Democrats sent an impeachment summons to the White House  requesting a response. The response issued on behalf of the president showed the first signs of how he will fight for an exoneration.  Trump's defense team will argue for both articles of impeachment  to be rejected, which seems to be the equivalent of asking charges to be dismissed in a normal court.  However, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has stated the impeachment will stand forever.  The trial begins on Tuesday, Jan. 21.  

The 7-page response claims the House process violated "every precedent and every principle of fairness" in the 150 year of impeachments.  Trump's co-counsels concluded both articles of impeachment violated the Constitution. 

Sources close to the President’s legal team said the White House would refute Article I on the grounds that no crime is specified (i.e., an impeachable offense) and various claims that were argued by House Democrats were not satisfied. To dismantle the charges House Democrats applied in the first article of impeachment, they plan to zone in  on the motive for the impeachment inquiry changing from quid pro quo to abuse of power.  In addition, reporters were told in a background call, "We’re going to also take a look at the fact that the bilateral presidential meeting that was so often discussed actually did take place.  The security assistance was sent.  And all that took place without the Ukrainian government announcing any investigations."

Further outlined in the "answer" submitted by Trump Counsel Jay Sekulow and White House Counsel Pat Cipollone on Article II, the president could not have obstructed Congress because "released the July 25 phone call at the heart of this matter." 

To address both articles Trump lawyers will assert that "House Democrats ran a fundamentally flawed and illegitimate process that denied the President every basic right, including the right to have counsel present, the right to cross examine a witness, and the right to present evidence.  And despite all of this, the information that the House Democrats actually assembled disproves their claims against the President.  We’re going to then assert -- so that’s a process aspect."

 Also, House managers submitted a 111 page brief to the Senate.