On Wednesday, the White House released a memorandum outlining a phone call between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky where the president said Zelensky should work with Attorney General William Barr to investigate Joe Biden.
The phone call, and issues surrounding it, have caused an uproar among many Democrats who are called for impeaching Trump even before the release of the phone call memorandum on Wednesday.
Yesterday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi formal endorsed an impeachment inquiry.
With the transcript’s release, a number of Democrats vying for the party’s presidential nomination in 2020 began speaking out.
To some of them, the memorandum was a “smoking gun.”
“This ‘transcript’ itself is a smoking gun. If this is the version of events the president’s team thinks is most favorable, he is in very deep jeopardy. We need to see the full whistleblower complaint and the administration needs to follow the law. Now,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) wrote on Twitter.
This "transcript" itself is a smoking gun. If this is the version of events the president's team thinks is most favorable, he is in very deep jeopardy. We need to see the full whistleblower complaint and the administration needs to follow the law. Now. https://t.co/b56nLZZpRi
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) September 25, 2019
Former HUD Secretary Julian Castro felt similarly, as did Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), and former Rep. Beto O’Rourke,
“This is the smoking gun. Donald Trump pressured a foreign government to work with his Justice Department to investigate a political opponent. Congress should cancel recess and begin impeachment proceedings immediately. #TrumpImpeachment,” Castro tweeted.
This is the smoking gun.
— Julián Castro (@JulianCastro) September 25, 2019
Donald Trump pressured a foreign government to work with his Justice Department to investigate a political opponent.
Congress should cancel recess and begin impeachment proceedings immediately. #TrumpImpeachment pic.twitter.com/yUC0fJW40l
“They admit it: Trump pressured the Ukrainian president to work with the U.S. Attorney General to investigate a political opponent. He must be impeached,” Harris tweeted.
They admit it: Trump pressured the Ukrainian president to work with the U.S. Attorney General to investigate a political opponent. He must be impeached. pic.twitter.com/JCjTbaQI8w
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) September 25, 2019
“This confirms what we already knew: President Trump asked a foreign power to investigate a political rival. He’s unfit for office and needs to be impeached.” O’Rourke tweeted.
This confirms what we already knew: President Trump asked a foreign power to investigate a political rival. He’s unfit for office and needs to be impeached. https://t.co/2px07X8N7K
— Beto O'Rourke (@BetoORourke) September 25, 2019
Other Democrats spoke about Trump and “corruption”
“We said he’s been corrupting the office since the beginning. Today the White House agreed,” Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) wrote on Twitter.
We said he’s been corrupting the office since the beginning. Today the White House agreed.
— Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) September 25, 2019
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) tweeted that Trump was “the most corrupt president in the modern history of this country.”
Donald Trump is the most corrupt president in the modern history of this country.
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) September 25, 2019
Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) called Trump a “mob boss.”
“This is damning. Trump is a mob boss. But the Administration is not off the hook, Congress needs the full whistleblower complaint,” the congressman tweeted.
This is damning. Trump is a mob boss.
— Archive: Congressman Tim Ryan (@RepTimRyan) September 25, 2019
But the Administration is not off the hook, Congress needs the full whistleblower complaint. https://t.co/tsPohgDqi7
It’s worth noting that many 2020 Democratic hopefuls had called for Trump’s impeachment even before the memorandum was released on Wednesday.
READ MORE: