House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) on Wednesday called President Donald Trump’s behavior in the Ukraine scandal his “most serious misconduct thus far” that left the House with “no choice” but to launch an impeachment inquiry.
Schiff said that as bad as his actions were with Russia while he was a candidate for office and then President trying to cover it all up, “it is yet again another order of magnitude more serious when using the power of his office, withholding vital military assistance to an ally at war with an adversary and doing so at the same time he’s pressuring that ally to manufacture dirt to once again get foreign help in a presidential election — that is the worst of all.”
“That certainly compelled me to go down this path, and as you say, I have been deeply reluctant to, but I think he’s given us no choice,” he added.
Schiff calls the Ukraine scandal Trump’s “most serious misconduct thus far” pic.twitter.com/7D6X49i07J
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) September 25, 2019
Schiff’s committee is currently trying to work out a deal to hear the whistleblower testify, but it is not clear that Trump’s DNI will let him. The whistleblower lodged the initial complaint that has since been blocked from its lawful transmission Congress. It is not clear exactly what the complaint includes, but it centers on Trump and Ukraine.