McCarthy: 'It's not a day that history will be proud of'

*EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: SCRIPT WAS RESENT TO CORRECT HEADLINE

Pelosi on Thursday said she has directed a House committee to draft articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump over his effort to pressure Ukraine to investigate a political rival, a historic step that sets up a fight over whether to oust him from office.

Pelosi, speaking in somber tones in a televised statement, accused Trump of abusing his power and alluded to Britain's King George III, the monarch against whom the American colonies rebelled in forming the United States in 1776.

Articles of impeachment represent formal charges against Trump and would originate in the Judiciary Committee before going to the full House. If the Democratic-led House passes articles of impeachment as expected, that would lead to a trial in the Senate on whether to convict Trump of those charges and remove him from office. Republicans control the Senate and have shown little support for Trump's removal.