No one is above law: Speaker Nancy Pelosi launches formal Trump impeachment inquiry

Washington, Sep 25: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has announced a formal impeachment probe of US President Donald Trump, pushed to action by his phone call with Ukraine's new leader and what Trump may or may not have said about corruption, frozen US millions and Democratic rival Joe Biden.

The impeachment inquiry, after months of investigations by House Democrats, sets up the party's most direct and consequential confrontation with the president, injects deep uncertainty into the 2020 election campaign and tests anew the nation's constitutional system of checks and balances.

Following the statement, Trump said he would release a transcript of the call on Wednesday.

"You will see it was a very friendly and totally appropriate call," Trump said.

The identity of the whistleblower is unknown. Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff, the chairman of the House intelligence committee, said Tuesday that the whistleblower wants to speak with the panel and could testify as soon as this week.