Trump slams Democrats over his impeachment

In a series of tweets on Saturday, Trump called the impeachment a partisan "hoax", while claiming his innocence and criticizing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who initiated an inquiry in September 2019 that led to his impeachment, reports Xinhua news agency.

"New polling shows that the totally partisan impeachment hoax is going nowhere. A vast majority want the do nothing Democrats to move on to other things now," Trump wrote.

Trump made the remarks a day after Pelosi, who has withhold articles of Trump's impeachment, announced a plan on Friday to deliver them to the Senate, a key step for the trial to kick off.

Pressure was building up on Pelosi, who is trying to give Democrats more leverage in setting rules for the trial in the Senate, where Republicans have a narrow majority.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has so far rejected Democrats' proposals, as he has garnered enough votes to move forward with the trial.

The Democrat-led House impeached Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, charges the White House has refuted.

In an anonymous complaint last year, a whistleblower raised concerns about the White House's interactions with Ukraine, resulting in the impeachment inquiry against Trump.

The President was alleged to have pressed his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, into launching investigations that could politically benefit him. Furthermore, the White House allegedly tried to cover it up.

According to the nation's Constitution, the House has the sole power of impeachment, while the Senate can try all impeachments.

Conviction can only happen in the Senate and requires at least two-thirds of its members, or 67 Senators, to vote in favour after a trial. Currently, the Senate has 53 Republicans, 45 Democrats and two Independents.

The timeline for the Senate trial mostly depends on the House's actions next week.

Senators could be sworn in as soon as Thursday for the impeachment trial, according to CNN, citing Senate aides.

But the trial, with arguments on the floor, probably won't begin until days after that.