Schiff says probe will continue after impeachment report finds ‘overwhelming evidence’ Trump abused office

Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee approved the report of their two-month investigation into President Trump’s conduct toward Ukraine on Tuesday, concluding that “the evidence of the President’s misconduct is overwhelming” as they barrel toward an expected vote to impeach him. “Any future President will feel empowered to resist an investigation into their own wrongdoing, malfeasance, or corruption, and the result will be a nation at far greater risk of all three.” The report’s extensive discussion of obstruction by the White House, along with comments from Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam B. Schiff, strongly indicate that obstruction could be a key part of an impeachment resolution. The Republican report accused Democrats of engaging in a partisan impeachment inquiry focused on “settling political scores and re-litigating election results with which they disagreed.” Democrats are attempting to make the case that Trump committed an impeachable offense by leveraging two officials acts — providing hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid to Ukraine and agreeing to a White House meeting that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky sought — for his own political advantage. “Senior Ukrainian officials under former President Petro Poroshenko publicly attacked then-candidate Trump during the 2016 campaign — including some senior Ukrainian officials who remained in their positions after President Zelensky’s term began,” the Republicans said. “All of these factors bear on the President’s state of mind and help to explain the President’s actions toward Ukraine and President Zelensky.” The Republicans argue that Trump’s July 25 call with Zelensky, in which the president asked the Ukrainian leader for a “favor,” displayed no “quid pro quo or indication of conditionality, threats, or pressure—much less evidence of bribery or extortion.” Schiff said in a statement the Republican report is “intended for an audience of one” and “ignores voluminous evidence” of wrongdoing by the president.