Sen. Lindsey Graham on Wednesday dared House Democrats to vote on formally opening an impeachment inquiry after the White House released a partial transcript of President Trump’s call with Ukraine’s president.
“Those who believe that the transcript is a ‘Smoking Gun’ for impeachment, do something about it — have the courage of your convictions,” the South Carolina Republican tweeted.
The memorandum of the call released Wednesday confirmed reports that Trump asked for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to “look into” former Vice President Joe Biden and his participation in the firing of a Ukrainian prosecutor.
{mosads}Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) formally launched an impeachment inquiry on Tuesday after pressure from members of her caucus who want to know whether aid to Ukraine was held up as part of that pressure campaign. Days before the call, the Trump administration delayed the release of hundreds of millions of dollars to Kiev.
Trump has denied any wrongdoing in his conversation with Zelensky.
Although a vote from the whole House is not needed to begin an inquiry, Democrats could choose to hold one.
Graham on Wednesday called the conversation “a nothing (non-quid pro quo) burger,” joining Republicans who say trying to impeach Trump will ultimately do more damage to Democrats.
Any move to approve actual articles of impeachment would need a simple majority in the House to be passed on to the Senate.
The focus on the conversation followed reports that it was included in a whistleblower complaint from within the intelligence community, which is being held by the administration.
The whistleblower complaint has not been seen by Congress, and it is not clear what allegations it makes.