A member of the United States House of Representatives on Wednesday introduced the first formal article of impeachment against President Donald Trump, The Independent reported. Democrat Brad Sherman alleged that Trump had obstructed justice by firing former Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey amid an inquiry into Russian meddling in the US election.

“Such conduct warrants impeachment and trial and removal from office,” Sherman said in the article, acknowledging that filing the article was “the first step on a very long road”.

“But if the impulsive incompetency continues, then eventually – many, many months from now – Republicans will join the impeachment effort,” the Democrat said in a statement.

Responding to the impeachment article, House Minority leader Nancy Pelosi called for an independent commission to look into Moscow’s alleged interference in the 2016 presidential election, the Los Angeles Times reported.

White House spokesperson Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Sherman’s resolution was “utterly and completely ridiculous” and “a political game at its worst”, reported Time.