Rep. Tom Cole said he doesn’t believe President Trump had a quid pro quo with Ukraine, or at least not a very good one.
During a Sunday interview on Meet the Press, the Oklahoma Republican explained he doesn’t believe the president withheld military aid from Ukraine in return for an investigation into Joe Biden, which has been the foundation of the House’s impeachment proceedings.
He noted that Ukrainian leaders said they felt no pressure from the White House and received the aid they had been promised.
“I look at it this way: The aid is there and the investigations didn’t happen,” said Cole. “So if there was a quid pro quo, it certainly wasn’t a very effective one.”
He noted that Trump’s conduct on the phone call with Ukraine may qualify as concerning but not as an impeachable offense. He urged everyone to read the transcript of the call and come to their own conclusions.
“I think the best thing for the public to do is read the transcript. It’s the closest thing we have to the record,” Cole said. “You make a judgment as to whether or not you think what happened there is worth putting the country through an incredibly divisive experience that’s stopping everything else from happening.”
Cole explained he believes House Democrats knew Trump would never be removed from office by Senate Republicans and should have considered that before moving on impeachment.
“We know how this story is going to end. There’s a very little likelihood that the president will be removed,” he said. “We made a political decision to put everything on hold, divide the country for an outcome we know … what’s going to happen, and we’re doing it essentially a year before an election.”
The House voted along party lines to continue the impeachment effort on Thursday, with only two Democrats breaking away to vote with Republicans against the measure.
