Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren believes House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry should focus narrowly on President Trump’s urging the Ukrainian president to probe former Vice President Joe Biden for the time being.
“Right now, I’d like to just see us do the Ukraine issue because it is so clear and it is such a clear violation of law,” the Massachusetts Democrat told CNN on Friday.”The president is asking for help against one of his political rivals and asking a foreign government for a thing of value for himself personally. That’s against the law.”
Warren’s comment comes days after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced a formal impeachment inquiry following reports that the president had pressured the leader of Ukraine to investigate his potential 2020 opponent and his son, Hunter Biden, during a July 25 phone call. The call was also at the center of a recent intelligence community whistleblower complaint.
Warren believes Trump’s conversation with Ukraine should be at the heart of any impeachment proceedings, which Rep. Adam Schiff indicated could begin as early as next week. However, some Democrats have pointed to possible instances of obstruction of justice by Trump outlined in the Mueller report, as well as the president’s alleged hush money payments to conceal affairs ahead of the 2016 election.
The White House released a transcript of Trump’s call with Ukraine this week, but it drew further scrutiny after the Trump administration acknowledged that it had been moved to a highly secure server.
“They didn’t leave that transcript in the regular course of transcripts of phone calls with foreign leaders. Why? Because it wasn’t a regular call,” Warren said. “It was a call that violated the law. And so their immediate instinct is: Let’s block it out. Let’s make sure nobody can see it. Let’s cover it up.”
Warren could stand to benefit from the controversy, as it puts her primary opponent Biden in the spotlight. However, she pivoted back to Trump when asked whether Hunter Biden’s business dealings should be off limits in the 2020 campaign.
“I believe that this issue is about Donald Trump and that’s where we need to keep our focus,” she said. “He is the President of the United States and he has solicited a foreign government interfering in our 2020 election. That is a threat to democracy and it is a threat to our Constitution. That’s where we need to focus.”
