Republican Texas Rep. Will Hurd claimed that President Trump would have violated the law if he revoked military aid from Ukraine in return for dirt on former Vice President Joe Biden, the 2020 Democratic front-runner.
During an interview on Fox News Sunday, Hurd called the impeachment efforts “premature,” but noted that he wants to see all the information about Trump’s call with Ukrainian leaders before making a judgment.
“To evaluate that question, I think it’s a violation of the law, and so I want to see does this establish a criminal intent?” Hurd said, later adding, “What I want to see is there an ability to establish criminal intent. Did the Ukrainians know that this was some kind of quid pro quo?”
Democrats have claimed Trump withheld military aid from Ukrainian leaders in order to force them to investigate Biden and his son, which could be politically beneficial to him. The White House denies this happened, but host Chris Wallace asked Hurd if it would be impeachable if the narrative being pushed by Democrats happened.
Hurd replied, “I think if you’re trying to get information on a political rival to use in a political campaign is not something a president or any official should be doing. I think everybody has — most Republicans have said that would be a violation of the law.”
On whether that violation would be impeachable, Hurd said he would consider all the evidence.
“I believe that is something that would make it — I’d have to truly consider whether impeachment is the right tool or not,” he said.
He noted that it would be a “big if” for Democrats to be right about the narrative they’ve been pushing about the president.
Hurd has been willing to break away from his fellow Republicans on many issues, including impeachment. He noted on Sunday that he believes the whistleblower’s identity should be protected, something the president and many other Republicans disagree with.
