Putin: ‘Far-fetched’ impeachment of Trump will end in the Senate

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Pelosi hints she may delay sending impeachment articles to Senate

Heritage Foundation senior legal fellow John Malcolm reacts to House vote on impeachment.

House Democrats have described it as “sad” and “solemn.” But Russian President Vladimir Putin? To him, it’s more “far-fetched.”

The Russian leader panned the impeachment proceedings against President Trump during his annual news conference in Moscow on Thursday, predicting that it will only go as far as the Senate.

“The party that lost the [2016] election, the Democratic Party, is trying to achieve results by other means," Putin said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures during his annual news conference in Moscow, Russia, on Thursday. (AP)

SEVERAL DEMOCRATS DEFECT ON IMPEACHMENT

He likened Trump's impeachment to the earlier U.S. investigation into collusion with Russia, which Putin downplayed as being groundless.

Putin noted that the impeachment motion "is yet to pass the Senate where the Republicans have a majority."

He added that “they will be unlikely to remove a representative of their own party from office on what seems to me, an absolutely far-fetched reason.”

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Trump was impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday, becoming only the third American president to be formally charged under the Constitution’s ultimate remedy for high crimes and misdemeanors.

The vote split along party lines, much the way it has divided the nation, over a charge that the 45th president abused the power of his office by enlisting a foreign government to investigate a political rival ahead of the 2020 election. The House then approved a second charge, that he obstructed Congress in its investigation. The articles of impeachment now go to the Senate for trial.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.