Donald Trump has been impeached in the United States House of Representatives.

The House has found the Republican president abused his office by asking Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden, his biggest rival in the 2020 election.

Members have so far voted in favour of the first article of impeachment, that Trump abused his power.  The vote was 230 in favour, 197 against and one abstention.

A second vote, that the president obstructed Congress, will follow shortly.

The US President has branded the process a 'total sham' and it remains incredibly unlikely he will be removed from office with a Senate vote likely to fall in his favour.

Trump repeatedly insisted his July phone call with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was “perfect.”

On Tuesday he sent House Speaker Nancy Pelosi a letter accusing her of engaging in a "perversion of justice" and an "attempted coup." 

"Can you believe that I will be impeached today by the Radical Left, Do Nothing Democrats, AND I DID NOTHING WRONG! A terrible thing," Trump wrote on Wednesday.

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"Say a prayer!" He added, saying Ms Pelosi “will go down in history as worst Speaker."

It was also found that Trump obstructed the congressional investigation into the call.

He is only the third president in history to be impeached in the House of Representatives after Bill Clinton and Andrew Johnson.

The historic vote today means Trump is set for  a trial next month in the Senate, where House members would act as prosecutors. 

But the upper chamber is controlled by Trump's fellow Republicans, who have shown little interest in criticising him, much less removing him from office. 

And conviction requires a two-thirds majority in the Senate, meaning at least 20 Republicans would have to vote to convict the President.

No president in the 243-year history of the United States has been removed from office by impeachment.

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President Andrew Johnson was impeached by the House in 1868 after he was accused of breaking the rules to sack his Secretary of War, but was acquitted by the Senate.

Bill Clinton was also impeached in 1998, charged with lying about the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

Again, the Senate acquitted the President and he served out his term.

Republicans signalled as soon as the session began that they intended to do everything possible to stall the proceedings.

They called for the House to adjourn immediately after the morning prayer and pledge of allegiance.

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Then they presented a motion accusing senior Democrats of violating House rules. 

Republicans lost votes on both issues on the House floor.

On the July telephone call, Trump asked Ukrainian President Zelenskiy to investigate Joe Biden and his son Hunter who worked for a Ukrainian energy company. 

He also raised a discredited theory promoted by Russia that US Democrats conspired with Ukraine to meddle in the 2016 election. 

Hunter Biden had joined the board of Ukrainian energy company Burisma while his father was US vice president.

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