2020 Democrats: Cancel Recess to Stop ‘Active National Security Threat’ Trump

US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speak during a meetin
SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images
Hannah Knudsen

Several Democrat presidential candidates reacted to the release of the “whistleblower” complaint on Thursday, describing President Trump as an “active national security threat” and calling on Congress to pursue impeachment proceedings instead of taking its scheduled recess.

The House Intelligence Committee released the complaint on Thursday, which detailed accusations from an anonymous “whistleblower” who did not have firsthand knowledge of the conversation between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The alleged “whistleblower” contends that Trump was “using the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 U.S. election.”

However, as the transcripts of the conversation, which were released Wednesday, showed, Trump’s explicit use of the word “favor” was used in reference to Crowdstrike and the questions surrounding election meddling and hacking efforts. Biden and his son were not mentioned until later in the conversation. The transcripts show no quid pro quo or “pressure,” and the Ukrainian president confirmed such.

Nonetheless, Democrats – particularly 2020 Democrat candidates – are claiming that the “whistleblower” complaint is “explosive” in nature and contend that it proves Trump committed “crimes” in the White House.

Joe Biden (D), whose alleged corrupt practices remain at the center of the controversy, proclaimed that Trump “believes he is above the law” and attempted to convince Americans across the board that the Democrats’ latest investigation and impeachment effort is not a partisan issue:

“The whistleblower complaint is explosive,” Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) wrote. “It paints a sobering picture of a president abusing his power for his own political gain against US national security interests.”

“Americans deserve to know the truth—that’s why an impeachment inquiry is so critical & our moral obligation,” he added:

“This is only the tip of an iceberg of corrupt, illegal and immoral behavior by Trump,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) assessed. “The House must thoroughly investigate Trump’s cover-up of this call and his other attempts to use government resources to help his re-election”:

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) proclaimed the existence of a “cover-up” and called for White House officials to be subpoenaed to testify under oath “about what else they may have covered up for Donald Trump”:

Like Biden, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) declared that Trump “believes he is above the law” and predicted that he will “continue to commit crimes from the White House” until lawmakers take action.

“The House needs to vote on articles of impeachment—and when it comes to the Senate, I will do what the Constitution requires,” she wrote:

Julián Castro (D) described the president as an “active national security threat” and said the complaint “exposed a criminal effort to extort political dirtywork from a foreign government, and a massive cover-up orchestrated by the White House”:

Both Castro and Beto O’Rourke (D) called on the House to cancel its scheduled recess to begin impeachment proceedings.

“As the whistleblower made clear: Every day Trump is in office, our democracy is less safe. We can’t wait to act,” O’Rourke added:

John Delaney (D) simply quoted Ronald Reagan’s chief of staff, while Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) accused Trump and Rudy Giuliani of “shaking down” Ukrainian officials for dirt on Biden:

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) tweeted a clip from her Wednesday appearance on Anderson Cooper 360, urging Americans to refrain from viewing the latest Democrat effort to take down Trump as a partisan issue:

Trump questioned the “whistleblower” complaint in a tweet on Thursday, writing, “A whistleblower with second hand information? Another Fake News Story! See what was said on the very nice, no pressure, call. Another Witch Hunt!”:

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