House Democrats demanded the White House turn over all documents regarding President Trump’s conversations with Ukrainian President Zelensky by Thursday amid a new clamor for the impeachment of the president.
The chairs of the House Foreign Affairs, Intelligence and Oversight committees are eyeing, in particular, the transcript of Mr. Trump’s summer phone call with the foreign leader.
“Any attempt by a president to use the office of the president of the United States for personal political gain — rather than the national interest — fundamentally undermines our sovereignty, democracy and the Constitution,” they wrote.
Democrats are feverishly trying to investigate allegations, detailed first in a report from The Wall Street Journal, that Mr. Trump repeatedly urged the Ukrainian president to work with his personal lawyer, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, to investigate the business dealings of Mr. Biden’s son, Hunter.
A government whistleblower report detailing the alleged interaction has been blocked from Congress, sparking accusations of obstruction from Democrats.
Mr. Trump acknowledged that he discussed Mr. Biden, a 2020 frontrunner, in his conversation with Mr. Zelensky but denied using aid money as leverage to pressure the foreign government into cooperating with an investigation.
Calls for impeachment have reached a fever pitch within the party, with many members saying these allegations have taken them past the point of no return.
The floodgates opened on Monday when more than a dozen members have come forward, including several vulnerable swing-district Democrats.
However, some frontline Democrats want to see the transcript before moving on impeachment.
“If investigations confirm recent reports, these actions represent impeachable offenses that threaten to undermine the integrity of our elections and jeopardize the balance of power within the federal government,” Rep. Haley Stevens, Michigan Democrat, wrote.
The administration has resisted Democrats’ demands thus far, but on Tuesday the president said he will likely release a readout of the call, which will be more vague than an actual transcript.
The three chairmen used the looming threat of impeachment — without using the I-word — to bolster their demands for documents.
“In light of these grave allegations the president must immediately abandon his stonewalling of Congress and his refusal to submit to any scrutiny or examinations of his actions,” they wrote. “Failure to comply with our request will compel our Committees to resort to escalated measures.”
Democrats have also given Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and National Intelligence Director Joesph Maguire a Thursday deadline to decide if they’ll hand over any information they have — most importantly the whistleblower report from Mr. Maguire — over to Congress.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.