Trump derides impeachment trial as a 'con'

• Donald Trump derided his impeachment as a "con" on Wednesday as Democratic leaders announced the team that will lead the trial in the Senate.
• Trump was impeached in the House on two articles.
• The second is obstruction of Congress, based on the White House's refusal to allow witnesses or sharing of documents with Democratic investigators.

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump derided his impeachment as a "con" on Wednesday as Democratic leaders announced the team that will lead the trial in the Senate.

"Here we go again, another Con Job by the Do Nothing Democrats," Trump tweeted seconds after Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House of Representatives, unveiled the seven-member trial team.

White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham also dismissed Pelosi's announcement in a statement slamming the impeachment "sham."

"The only thing Speaker Pelosi has achieved with this sham, illegitimate impeachment process, is to prove she is focused on politics instead of the American people," according to Grisham.

"The naming of these managers does not change a single thing. President Trump has done nothing wrong," she said.

"He looks forward to having the due process rights in the Senate that Speaker Pelosi and House Democrats denied to him, and expects to be fully exonerated."

Trump was impeached in the House on two articles.

The first alleges that Trump abused his office by withholding military aid from Ukraine to pressure the government there into opening a corruption investigation meant to weaken the Democratic frontrunner in this year's US presidential election.

The second is obstruction of Congress, based on the White House's refusal to allow witnesses or sharing of documents with Democratic investigators.