In 1973, as he tried to stave off the growing Watergate scandal, President Richard Nixon famously said: "People have got to know whether or not their president is a crook. Well, I'm not a crook."
Well, actually, Nixon was a crook. But he was right on the first point. People do need to know whether their president is a crook. Fortunately for us today, we already know the answer. President Donald Trump is a crook, and obviously so.
We have known this for a long time. We know, for instance, that his Trump University was a scam. We know that he is notorious for ripping off the sort of working-class Americans he claims to champion. Thanks to Pulitzer Prize-winning reporting from The Washington Post's David Fahrenthold, we know that his frequent talk of big charitable donations was rarely matched by actual charitable donations, and that he misused his own charity's money to make legal fights go away. This crooked behavior has not abated since Trump became president. Since his inauguration, he has spent taxpayer money to make 362 visits to his own Trump-branded properties. In a development that was loudly predicted by many before his election, Trump hotels and other properties have become go-to destinations for foreign officials looking to put money in Trump's pocket in the hopes of some positive attention from the Dear Leader.
This is nowhere near an exhaustive account of the man's grifting.
Out of that morass comes the latest Trump scandal, one that has actually inspired congressional Democrats to sort of do something. In short: A government whistleblower from the U.S. intelligence community — who filed a complaint through established legal channels — alleges that Trump asked the Ukrainian president to investigate Joe Biden's family, using United States military aid to the country as leverage. The whistleblower's complaint also says that the White House tried to cover up the contents of Trump's phone call with the Ukrainian leader by improperly classifying the notes from the call.
You can read the full unclassified whistleblower complaint for yourself.
You can also read the White House's own memo detailing Trump's phone conversation Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky.
Crucially, the Trump-appointed inspector general of the intelligence community deemed the whistleblower's complaint "urgent" and "credible." Moreover, we don't need the whistleblower's complaint to prove what the White House's own memo — not a full transcript, to be clear — shows: Trump explicitly asks Zelensky to do him a "favor" with American aid to Ukraine dangling over the whole conversation. Again, read it for yourself. If you think me in the clutch of Trump Derangement Syndrome, then take it from Fox News host Chris Wallace, who says the spin coming from the president's allies has been "astonishing" and "deeply misleading."
With all that said, here is where Tennessee's congressional delegation stands on the scandal and the Democrats' decision to move toward impeachment. The Republican members all insist there's nothing to see here. As far as we've seen, none of them have commented on the president's comments intimating that the whistleblower and others who spoke to the whistleblower should be executed.
Republican Sens. Lamar Alexander and Marsha Blackburn:
We group these two together because both, as of yesterday, say they haven't even read the whistleblower complaint yet. Alexander told reporters he is "waiting for the intelligence committee to finish its work." Blackburn said the Democrats are carrying out a "breathless revenge scheme." For fun, remember then-Rep. Blackburn casually tossing out the idea of impeaching President Barack Obama.
Democratic Reps. Steve Cohen and Jim Cooper:
Cooper came out in favor of an impeachment inquiry earlier this week after previously expressing skepticism about the effectiveness of impeachment. Cohen first introduced articles of impeachment against Trump nearly two years ago.
"I could not be more strongly against what Speaker Pelosi is doing to undermine President Trump with her move to begin impeachment proceedings. Half of the Democratic caucus believed impeachment was warranted after Robert Mueller declared he found no evidence of collusion. The other half supported impeaching the President before producing any evidence of wrongdoing. Ever since President Trump set foot in office, Democrats could not accept their loss and have been foaming at the mouth to undermine his presidency. Democratic leadership wants the public to believe they are reluctant to begin an impeachment inquiry, but the truth is this is 100 percent calculated and political."
Rep. Tim Burchett (R):
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"Democrats are playing a dangerous game of telephone with this whistleblower complaint. A 'he said, she said' document is a laughable excuse for factual evidence, and I hope the American people know what they are watching on TV today is nothing more than a liberal soap opera. Rather than using taxpayer dollars for these theatrics, we should have been using the funds to #BuildTheWall and secure our border."
"Before and after last year’s midterm elections, a few of us predicted Democrat leadership would fall prey to their most strident members and move to impeach President Trump. Sadly, having accomplished nothing but fruitless investigations in this Congress, Speaker Pelosi has allowed this radical element to dictate another partisan investigation. An overwhelming majority of the American public rejects impeachment. However, some individuals, who still cannot accept that their candidate lost the 2016 presidential election, are pursuing a purely political agenda. Congress must reject it."
Rep. John Rose (R):
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Rep. Mark Green (R):
“The President released the transcript of his call so every American can see there is no evidence of wrongdoing. The Department of Justice reviewed this 'whistleblower' complaint and found no reason to take action. The American people put us in Congress to do their work. These endless fishing expeditions only distract and waste precious taxpayer dollars. Instead of trying to impeach the President, we could be addressing the debt, fixing our broken healthcare system, and securing our Nation.”
Rep. David Kustoff (R):
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