“We are now faced with accusations from numerous sources that our president attempted to pressure a foreign government to investigate one of his rivals in the next presidential election. In other words, the president of the United States is attempting to fix the election. I think these accusations should be addressed with all of the tools at Congress’s disposal, including articles of impeachment. I did not run for Congress to impeach the president. I ran to make the lives of New Jerseyans better, but I’ve long said that Congress is a co-equal branch of government and has constitutional oversight duties, as well as duties to legislate for Americans. The president of the United States is threatening our national security. I believe it is my responsibility as a member of Congress to ensure that I protect our country from any and all threats. And that is what I intend to do.”
“The fact that our president is trying to induce a foreign power to threaten our elections – I think that’s a huge national security risk. The fact that a president is withholding support from a security partner that is trying to fight off Russia, which has presented multiple national security threats over the past several years. To withhold this kind of support, knowing how critical it is that we deter Russian aggression across the world, and to have that aid not arrive to our security partner, not arrive in Ukraine as they are trying to fight that aggression – I just think it’s so incredibly offensive to put that kind of support and that kind of fight that they have going on in jeopardy and in peril. I think those are clear national security threats, and the fact that they are being conducted by the president leaves no other option than for Congress to act. Because Congress is the body that the founding fathers anticipated would be a check on the executive branch.”
– Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.), speaking on September 25 in an interview with “The Daily,” a podcast of The New York Times.
“…Trump seems to have the idea that Ukraine was part of some scheme against his presidential campaign and is correspondingly demanding that the country actively participate in his efforts to attack one of his opponents. As domestic politics this is disgraceful; as foreign policy it is profoundly dangerous.
“For Ukraine and other countries in similar situations, there can be only one conclusion: The politics of the United States has now become so poisonous that the only option is maintaining a safe distance. If you try to buy influence there, you risk buying destruction.
“The scandal effectively presents the Kremlin with a huge gift. It could well turn out that Trump’s ill-advised pressure on the Ukrainian president will finally give Moscow what it has so far failed to achieve. If the mess continues, the only things the world will be hearing about Ukraine are corruption, dubious schemes and bizarre manipulations – a public relations disaster that might end up damaging the country far more than Russian battalions have so far managed to do. Ties between the United States and Ukraine will steadily weaken, giving Moscow additional opportunities to exert pressure.
“It is hard to see how any of this is in the interests of Ukraine – or the United States.”
– Former Prime Minister of Sweden Carl BIldt, writing in his column in The Washington Post on September 24.