With the impeachment inquiry in full swing, the country is as divided as ever as Democrats lead the inquiry while Republicans, for the most part, stand firm in their support of President Donald J. Trump and deny any wrongdoing on his part.

Perhaps you’ve been living under a rock, bingeing non-stop Netflix and Prime videos or playing Mario Kart endlessly on your cell phone, but if not, you know that the Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, launched an impeachment inquiry last month.

The charges are fairly complicated:  The House is investigating whether a whistleblower complaint to the House of Representatives is valid.  The whistleblower’s complaint alleges that President Trump, in a phone call on July 24, asked President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine to investigate Democratic Presidential Candidate Joseph Biden son.  The President has indicated that Joe Biden pushed Ukraine to oust a Ukrainian prosecutor to block the prosecution of his son.  While the transcript of the conversation does not explicitly state so, the democrats allege that the President threatened to halt monetary aid to Ukraine in exchange for their agreement to investigate.  

Since the impeachment inquiry was announced, the President has overtly asked other countries to investigate Biden including China, a request he made on the lawn of the White House as reporters fired questions at him. Democrats expressed anger and frustrations over these statements while Republicans claim the President was merely joking.

What does this all mean?  Impeachment, for those unaware, is the act of removing an official from office, namely, in this case, the President. The steps to impeachment are noted in the constitution.  The inquiry would be followed by a vote in the House of Representatives. The baton would then be passed to the Senate where a trial would be held followed by an official vote by the Senate.  Then, if the Senate votes to do so, President Trump would be removed from office and Vice President Michael Pence would be sworn in as President.

Trump becomes the third modern-day president to face impeachment inquiry.  Only two others, Bill Clinton and Richard Nixon faced similar circumstances.  Nixon resigned before he could be and Clinton’s impeachment was halted when the Senate refused to vote to remove him. Andrew Johnson, president from 1865 until 1869 was also impeached by the House but not the Senate.

Two terms may be useful in the understanding of this news.  Whistleblower – A whistleblower (also written as whistle-blower or whistleblower) is a person who exposes secretive information or activity that is deemed illegal, unethical, or not correct within a private or public organization. … Because of this, a number of laws exist to protect whistleblowers. Quid Pro Quo – what this means is literally “this for that.”  In this particular complaint, the charges against the President allege that he wanted Ukraine to investigate Biden in exchange for military aid.

The Patriot Press interviewed several students since the impeachment inquiry was announced and much like the country, students are fairly divided.

Mark Winnick, Grade 12: “I mean, like, I feel like it’s needed. I’m not the biggest supporter of Trump. I really don’t like to say I lean either way. But, if a politician is going to do something like that, I feel like he should stand trial for it at least and just back away from it and say that it’s a witch hunt. If you’re being accused of these things and there’s proof against you then you should stand trial in court. No one is above the law.” 

Caroline Frain, Grade 12: “I feel like it’s a big deal, I don’t know, I feel like there are other problems, and this isn’t the biggest problem. I think everyone just doesn’t like him to begin with, so the fact that he does that gives everyone an excuse to go against him even more.” 

Steven Masten, Grade 12: “It’s ridiculous. I just want to know who’s saying this. Fake news, that’s all I have to say. Fake news.”

Fey Quassis- Grade 12: “I don’t think that Trump is the most trustworthy president, and this seems more probable than the Russian investigation.”

Brandon Caprioni, Grade 11: “There seem to be more accusations than evidence. The left is believing the whistleblower completely, while the right believes in Trump’s word and the document. I want my opinion to be more evidenced-based as more information comes out over time.”

Kevin Valencia, Grade 10: “I believe that Trump is justified of impeachment, and I think it will be interesting to see what happens and how it affects the elections in 2020 since this is all happening so close.”

Cassandra Witten, Grade 10: “He’s not actually going to be impeached; it’s just a scam so that he won’t be able to run next election. I think he should be impeached, but I think this is only starting because the Democrats are getting desperate.”

Asher George, Grade 10: “Donald Trump didn’t do anything that’s worthy of impeachment: they change the story every year or so. First, it’s Russia, then it’s Ukraine, then it’s Joe Biden. Make up your mind and if you want to impeach him, come up with something that’s worthy. It’s a witch hunt. When the inquiry for impeachment came, his popularity actually went up; his approval rating went up. Trying to impeach Trump will only hurt the Democratic campaign. I think if he killed a child he should stand trial but I don’t necessarily know if that’s an impeachable offense.”