Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) said Wednesday that a whistleblower complaint concerning a call between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky contained “lots that’s very troubling,” warning his GOP colleagues not to dismiss it.
“Republicans ought not to be rushing to circle the wagons to say there’s no there there when there’s obviously lots that’s very troubling there,” Sasse said after reviewing the complaint, according to an NBC News reporter. “The administration ought not be attacking the whistleblower as some talking points suggest they plan to do.”
{mosads}However, Sasse also castigated the media and House Democrats, who have announced an impeachment inquiry based on the whistleblower complaint, saying, “Democrats ought not to be using the word impeach before they have the whistleblower complaint or before they read any of the transcript.”
“The media humbly should not pretend that this story is about something that’s going to be resolved in the next two hours,” he added. “Done right with lots of deliberation, this is going to take a lot of time, but there’s obviously some really troubling things here.”
Sasse, who is up for reelection in 2020, was a frequent critic of Trump earlier in his administration but has scaled back his criticism in recent months. Trump, who has frequently declined to endorse Republican incumbents he perceives as antagonizing him or endorsed their opponents, tweeted that Sasse had his endorsement in early September.