House Republicans on the three committees tasked with the impeachment inquiry released an 18-page memorandum Monday night outlining their case against impeaching the president.
In addition to raising concerns about the process behind the inquiry, the Republican members of the Intelligence, Oversight and Reform and Foreign Affairs Committees described the facts in the case that they believe exonerate President Donald Trump from allegations that he leveraged foreign aid to get Ukraine to investigate a political opponent.
“Four key pieces of evidence are fatal to the Democrats’ allegations,” the memo states. “Stripping away the hyperbole and hysteria, these indisputable pieces of evidence show that there was no, ‘Treason, Bribery, or other high crimes and Misdemeanors,’ as required by the U.S. Constitution.”
Those four facts, the GOP members argue, are that Trump’s July 25 call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky does not show evidence of pressure, Zelensky said he did not feel pressured during the call, Ukraine did not know Trump was withholding security assistance at the time of the call, and Trump both met with Zelensky and freed up foreign aid before Ukraine ever investigated Biden or Burisma as he requested.
The chargé d’affaires to Ukraine, Bill Taylor, testified in late October that he believed aid to Ukraine was “dependent” on an investigation of Burisma, but also admitted that he did not believe Ukraine knew about Trump’s military aid freeze until late August, weeks after the disputed phone call. Ambassador Kurt Volker, who recently resigned from the State Department, said in his deposition that he did not find the “hold on security assistance” to be “significant.”
“I am quite sure that at least I, [Secretary of State Mike] Pompeo, the official representatives of the U.S., never communicated to Ukrainians that it is being held for a reason,” Volker testified.
The Republicans’ memo comes as Democrats, lead by House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff, move the impeachment inquiry into open hearings. This past weekend, Schiff denied a Republican request to interview the whistleblower, whose complaint about Trump’s call with Ukraine spurred the impeachment process, while Republicans moved Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, one of their biggest stars, over to the Intelligence Committee.
