Conservatives seek ‘expeditious’ inquiry

WASHINGTON — More than a dozen prominent conservative lawyers offered their legal reasoning for an “expeditious” impeachment probe into President Donald Trump, creating a document they hope will be read by Republicans who continue to stand by the president.

The 16 attorneys, many of whom worked in Republican administrations, wrote in a joint statement released Thursday morning that Trump’s phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the text messages between diplomats and Trump’s public call for China to investigate a political opponent are “undisputed” events that amount to Trump violating his oath of office, they said.

“We have not just a political candidate open to receiving foreign assistance to better his chances at winning an election, but a current president openly and privately calling on foreign governments to actively interfere in the most sacred of U.S. democratic processes, our elections,” the group wrote.

George Conway, husband of White House counselor Kellyanne Conway and outspoken critic of the president, helped form the coalition of like-minded conservatives a year ago. The signatories are members of that group, Checks and Balances.

House Democrats are still preparing to force the Trump administration to answer questions in their impeachment investigation days after President Donald Trump and the White House declared that they would not cooperate with Congress.

House chairmen leading the impeachment inquiry planned to issue additional subpoenas for witness testimony and records related to Trump’s dealings with Ukraine.

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy (right), said Thursday he was not aware at the time of his phone call with President Donald Trump that Trump put a hold on promised military aid.