releases: https://keller.house.gov/media/in-the-news/house-prepares-impeachment-vote-members-focus-trump-call-transcript
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
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| https://keller.house.gov/media/in-the-news/house-prepares-impeachment-vote-members-focus-trump-call-transcript | As House prepares for impeachment vote, members focus on Trump call transcript | 2019-12-18 | 2019 | 2019-12 | Republican | House | PA | Fred Keller | K000395 | keller.house.gov | legacy | As the House moved forward with a historic debate Wednesday ahead ofthe likely impeachment of President Donald Trump, many members remained fundamentally divided along party lines on the basic facts of the inquiry and what they mean. Democrats interviewed Wednesday werecertain the president violated his oathof office by pressuring a foreign leader to interfere in the 2020 election for his personal gain. Most Republicans, meanwhile, are adamant that Trump did nothing inappropriate at all. For me, it was very clear after hearing overwhelming evidence from witness after witness after witness of what our president tried to do with American resources, really holding another country hostage for political gain, I think Congress has no choice but to go forward with this vote, said Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-Texas. In a July 25 phone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Trump asked that Ukraine work with his personal attorney and the attorney general on two investigations targeting his political opponents. One involved claims of Ukrainian involvement in the hack of Democratic National Committee emails in 2016, and the other involved former Vice President Joe Biden's efforts to force Ukraine to fire its prosecutor general, which Trump alleged was intended to protect Biden's son from a corruption investigation. Citing testimony at impeachment hearingsby current and former officials, Democrats assert the call was part of a monthslong campaign by the Trump administration to pressure Zelenskiy to publicly announce the investigations in exchange for military aid or a White House meeting with the president. Republicans stress none of those witnesses directly heard President Trump condition the aid on the investigations. What [House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam] Schiff, [House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry] Nadler and the speaker have done is put forth a narrative based on innuendo, hearsay, and really no proof, said Rep. Fred Keller, R-Penn. Democrats havefiled two articles of impeachmentfor abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. Lawmakers agree the rough transcript of President Trump's phone call with Zelenskiy, released by the White House in September, is the most important piece of evidence, but they appear to be interpreting what was said very differently. You can't mix official business with political, said Rep. Kurt Schrader, D-Ore. You can't ask a foreign government to interfere in elections. It's illegal. Schrader noted Trump first broached the idea of Zelenskiy doing a favor by investigating Democrats immediately after the Ukrainian president mentioned the need for U.S.-made anti-tank missiles. However, he acknowledged not every agrees with his reading. The transcript is the overwhelming piece of material that influences my vote, he said. I don't know how you can interpret it differently, but a lot of friends of mine, a lot of family have done so. A lot of his Republican colleagues havetoo. They insist Trump's concerns about corruption were genuine and he was acting in the best interests of the country. I didn't see anything that was even close to impeachable. I saw a president that was trying to be a fiduciary for taxpayers, said Rep. Jodey Arrington, R-Texas. Republicans also point to public statements by Zelenskiy denying he felt pressured by President Trump, and they emphasize the military aid was eventually released in September without the investigations being announced after Congress began inquiring about it. The Ukrainian government states there was no pressure, no ask, nothing was given in return, said Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Penn. That's why this is such a partisan vote. However, Democrats remain dubious of Trump's motives. They say he never mentioned corruption as an issue to Zelenskiy and only brought up specific investigations of his political opponents based on conspiracy theories and misinformation. Though Republicans have spoken broadly of alleged Ukrainian efforts to influence the 2016 election, Trump's comments to Zelenskiy explicitly referenced his inaccurate understanding that the DNC server that was hacked by Russians was somehow connected to Ukraine. His allegations against Biden also overlooked the fact that many allies were also seeking the removal of the prosecutor. This was something where, yes, there are situations all the time where presidents try to get countries to do certain things, withhold aid to do that, said Rep. Dave Loebsack, D-Iowa. But it's never the case there's a withholding of aid so the country can do the president a personal political favor. That is unacceptable. Though Republicans argue voters should decide Trump's fate in the 2020 election, Democrats warn he may continue seeking foreign assistance to win that race. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas, observed that when questioned about what he wanted from Zelenskiy on the White House lawn, Trump told reporters he wanted Ukraine and China to open investigations of Biden. If we don't put him in check, of course he's going to keep doing it, Escobar said. He's going to keep on doing it until there's nothing left of our democracy. Rep. Joe Morelle, D-N.Y., said he wasreluctant to support impeachment, but the two things the founders of the nation were most concerned about was foreign interference in elections and overreach by the executive. At the end of the day, I think it's unavoidable that there was a scheme that was created by the president, carried out not only by him but by his lieutenants like Mr. Giuliani, Morelle said, referring to Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, in an attempt to use the national security and the national interest of the American government to advance his own agenda. Republicans reject Democrats' protestationsthat they were hesitant to proceed with impeachment, citing comments made by some lawmakers as early as spring 2017 urging Trump's removal from office. It was clear from the get-go the objective was impeachment. All they needed was a crime, said Rep. Russ Fulcher, R-Idaho, adding, Objectively, after looking at it as deeply as I can, there's not a crime there. Unlike many in the GOP who echoed President Trump's claims that the call was perfect, Rep. Paul Mitchell, R-Mich., said aspects of the conversation with Zelenskiy were troubling, but he believes they do not rise to the level of an impeachable offense. He shouldn't have referenced Biden in any way, shape, or form in the conversation, Mitchell said. That's the only direct piece of evidence besides presumptions, assumptions, I don't like what he said.' If we start impeaching presidents if we don't like what they say, we should have started a while ago. We should have started with LBJ. Senate Republicans watching this all play out say the House has failed to compile sufficient evidence to make a case against Trump, and they expect that will make iteasy for them to dispatch the trialquickly when it comes before them in January. It's just light on facts and heavy on emotion, said Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C. That's not the way you want the impeachment process to go. | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |