Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Sunday, Jun 01, 2025

Republicans still dodging questions about Trump's calls for foreign countries to investigate Biden

Republicans still dodging questions about Trump's calls for foreign countries to investigate Biden

Several GOP senators running for reelection are also running away from what would seem to be a straight-forward question: Is it appropriate for President Donald Trump to ask a foreign government to investigate his political opponent?

Rather than answering directly, Republican after Republican have sidestepped the question, contending the matter has to be investigated first -- even though Trump himself said publicly on the south lawn of the White House that Ukraine and China should investigate Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter.


But to Senate Republicans, particularly ones who need Trump's support to win difficult reelections, that admission is simply not enough.


"Well look, that's what we're going to get into," Republican Sen. Cory Gardner of Colorado said Thursday when pressed by reporters if it was appropriate for Trump to make that ask. "The Senate Intelligence Committee is having an investigation, a bipartisan investigation."


Gardner, facing one of the toughest reelections of any Republican in the country, repeated that refrain again and again throughout a tense exchange with reporters in Denver.


He's hardly alone.


CNN sent reporters and cameras crews across the country during the two-week congressional recess to put the question to key GOP senators. And it's clear that Republicans are in a difficult spot: They don't want to anger Trump or his supporters by raising concerns with what the President said was a "perfect" call with the Ukrainian President, but they also don't want to condone his actions as more voters believe that they are worthy of an impeachment inquiry.


GOPers focus on Senate probe


And many facing difficult reelection races are relying on a common playbook to avoid answering: point to the Senate Intelligence Committee to investigate the matter while attacking the House's impeachment probe.



"We're going to have to wait and see what happens once it goes to the Senate Intelligence Committee," said Sen. Joni Ernst, an Iowa Republican up for reelection.


"We don't have all the facts, we don't know what is accurate," Ernst added. "We have a picture painted by the media and we don't know if that picture is accurate."


"Every senator voted for the Senate Intelligence Committee to look into the matter in a bipartisan way," Arizona GOP Sen. Martha McSally told 12 News KPNX this week. "I think what we've seen out of Pelosi and Schiff and others in the House is quite partisan and I think people want us to take a serious look at this and not have it be just partisan bickering going on."
McSally, who is running in 2020 in a state Democrats consider competitive, seemed to be referring to the Senate approving by voice vote a resolution calling for Trump to release the whistleblower to Congress. The Senate has not taken a vote on authorizing any investigation into the matter.


Pressure will increase on GOP lawmakers when Congress reconvenes next week and they are forced to the run the gauntlet of the Capitol press corps, which is anxious to get their reaction to the fast-moving developments, including the arrests this week of associates of Rudy Giuliani who were helping dig up on Biden in Ukraine.


Some Republicans, though, have been quick to give Trump a pass.


"I'm going to leave it to the President to make that decision," North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis told CNN on Wednesday morning when asked if the President's actions were appropriate, following a town hall meeting with farmers alongside Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue in Monroe, North Carolina. "I've seen the transcript, I've seen the complaint, and if that alone is all they're using to drive all the resources in the House, then I think it's a waste of resources."


Now, many Republicans are relying on a Senate committee that its leaders have acknowledged will take a slow, methodical approach in its investigation.


The Senate Intelligence Committee is investigating the whistleblower allegations like its House counterparts, but there are several key differences that go beyond the obvious fact that the House's investigation is to consider whether to impeach the President.


The chamber is also in no rush to get out answers, which could lead to a more thorough investigation but also raises the prospect that, if the House impeaches Trump, the question will be before the Senate as an impeachment jury before the Senate committee has released any findings.


"Don't expect us to move at light speed - that will probably happen in the House," Senate Intelligence Chairman Richard Burr, a North Carolina Republican, said last month after hearing from acting director of national intelligence Joseph Maguire and Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson. "But the committee is committed to make sure we get to the bottom of questions (that) need answers."


Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said that tapping the Senate Intelligence Committee to undertake an investigation was the "responsible, rather apolitical, at least bipartisan way to proceed with what we think we know at this particular point."
The tactic worked for the Senate when it probed allegations of Russian election meddling and contacts between Trump's team and Russians. While the House investigation devolved into partisan warfare, the Senate conducted a bipartisan probe.


Of course, the Senate investigation is still chugging along, more than two years in: the committee has so far released two of the five reports it's planning to issue.


Some Republicans speak out


There have been a handful of Republican senators who have criticized Trump's comments, including one in a battleground Senate 2020 contest: Susan Collins of Maine, who took issue with his call for China to investigate.


"It was clearly wrong, and I was stunned when the President came out this week and said that he had asked the Chinese to investigate his political opponent," Collins told Maine Public Radio.


Other Republicans have also criticized the President's actions while arguing they don't rise to the level of an impeachable offense.


"The President should not have raised the Biden issue on that call, period," Sen. Rob Portman, an Ohio Republican, told the Columbus Dispatch, but added: "I don't view it as an impeachable offense. ... I think the House frankly rushed to impeachment assuming certain things."


Sen. Lamar Alexander, a retiring GOP senator from Tennessee and close ally of McConnell, had initially said he wanted to wait for the Intelligence Committee to reach its conclusions. But he issued a new statement Wednesday saying "it's inappropriate" for Trump to talk to foreign governments about digging up dirt on a political rival, but that "impeachment would be a mistake" with an election "just around the corner."


That's a message that is likely to please Trump and a sign of a probable communications strategy from Senate GOP leaders as they return to the Capitol.


"This is a serious process, let's take it seriously," Gardner said Thursday when refusing to answer directly about whether Trump was right to ask for the foreign governments to probe his political rival.


Then, Gardner scolded a reporter about focusing too much on four states where Republican senators are facing tough reelections.


"You write about four states," he said. "You write about Maine, North Carolina, Colorado and Arizona when you talk about impeachment. Now, to me that sounds more about campaign year politics then it is about the seriousness of this issue."

Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
OPEC+ Agrees to Increase Oil Output for Third Consecutive Month
Turkey Detains Istanbul Officials Amid Anti-Corruption Crackdown
Meta and Anduril Collaborate on AI-Driven Military Augmented Reality Systems
EU Central Bank Pushes to Replace US Dollar with Euro as World’s Main Currency
European and Arab Ministers Convene in Madrid to Address Gaza Conflict
U.S. Health Secretary Ends Select COVID-19 Vaccine Recommendations
Trump Warns Putin Is 'Playing with Fire' Amid Escalating Ukraine Conflict
India and Pakistan Engage Trump-Linked Lobbyists to Influence U.S. Policy
U.S. Halts New Student Visa Interviews Amid Enhanced Security Measures
Trump Administration Cancels $100 Million in Federal Contracts with Harvard
SpaceX Starship Test Flight Ends in Failure, Mars Mission Timeline Uncertain
King Charles Affirms Canadian Sovereignty Amid U.S. Statehood Pressure
Iranian Revolutionary Guard Founder Warns Against Trusting Regime in Nuclear Talks
UAE Offers Free ChatGPT Plus Subscriptions to Citizens
Lebanon Initiates Plan to Disarm Palestinian Factions
Iran and U.S. Make Limited Progress in Nuclear Talks
The Daily Debate: The Fall of the Dollar — Strategic Reset or Economic Self-Destruction?
Trump Administration's Tariff Policies and Dollar Strategy Spark Global Economic Debate
OpenAI Acquires Jony Ive’s Startup for $6.5 Billion to Build a Revolutionary “Third Core Device”
Turkey Weighs Citizens in Public as Erdoğan Launches National Slimming Campaign
Saudi-Spanish Business Forum Commences in Riyadh
Saudi Arabia and Spain Sign MoU to Boost SME Sectors
UK Suspends Trade Talks with Israel Amid Gaza Offensive
Iran and U.S. Set for Fifth Round of Nuclear Talks Amid Rising Tensions
Russia Expands Military Presence Near Finland Amid Rising Tensions
Indian Scholar Arrested in Crackdown Over Pakistan Conflict Commentary
Israel Eases Gaza Blockade Amid Internal Dispute Over Military Strategy
President Biden’s announcement of advanced prostate cancer sparked public sympathy—but behind closed doors, Democrats are in panic
A Chinese company made solar tiles that look way nicer than regular panels!
Indian jet shootdown: the all-robot legion behind China’s PL-15E missiles
The Chinese Dragon: The True Winner in the India-Pakistan Clash
Australia's Venomous Creatures Contribute to Life-Saving Antivenom Programme
The Spanish Were Right: Long Working Hours Harm Brain Function
Did Former FBI Director Call for Violence Against Trump? Instagram Post Sparks Uproar
US and UAE Partner to Develop Massive AI Data Center Complex
Apple's $95 Million Siri Settlement: Eligible Users Have Until July 2 to File Claims
US and UAE Reach Preliminary Agreement on Nvidia AI Chip Imports
President Trump and Elon Musk Welcomed by Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim with Cybertruck Convoy
Strong Warning Issued: Do Not Use General Chatbots for Medical, Legal, or Educational Guidance
Saudi Arabia Emerges as Global Tech Magnet with U.S. Backing and Trump’s Visit
This was President's departure from Saudi Arabia. The Crown Prince personally escorted him back to the airport.
NVIDIA and Saudi Arabia Launch Strategic Partnership to Establish AI Centers
Trump Meets Syrian President Ahmad al-Shara in Historic Encounter
Trump takes a blow torch to the neocons and interventionists while speaking to the Saudis
US and Saudi Arabia Sign Landmark Agreements Across Multiple Sectors
Why Saudi Arabia Rolled Out a Purple Carpet for Donald Trump Instead of Red
Elon Musk Joins Trump Meeting in Saudi Arabia
Trump says it would be 'stupid' not to accept gift of Qatari plane
Quantum Computing Threatens Bitcoin Security
Michael Jordan to Serve as Analyst for NBA Games
×