Republican Texas Rep. Mac Thornberry condemned President Trump’s phone call with Ukrainian leaders as “inappropriate” but not impeachable.
Trump has maintained that there was nothing wrong with requesting that Ukrainian leaders launch an investigation into Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden during the call. Thornberry, however, disagreed in a Sunday interview on ABC’s This Week, during which he explained that he believes requesting an investigation into a political rival from a foreign power is not appropriate.
“Well, as you know — maybe you know, Martha — I believe that it is inappropriate for a president to ask a foreign leader to investigate a political rival,” Thornberry said.
He refused to clear Trump of any wrongdoing, but he also didn’t defend the Bidens.
“It leads to the question if there’s a political rival with a family member who’s involved in questionable activity, what do you do? Just let them alone?” Thornberry said.
Thornberry reaffirmed that he believes Trump’s behavior was inappropriate, but he doesn’t believe it justifies calls for impeachment from House Democrats.
“I believe it was inappropriate,” Thornberry said. “I don’t believe it was impeachable.”
He pointed to the Constitution, saying, “The Constitution is very specific: bribery, treason, high crimes, and misdemeanors, which basically means felonies. That’s what you have to prove as a threshold question.”
Thornberry, 61, has been the top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee since 2015.
