WASHINGTON — After reading the whistleblower complaint against President Donald Trump, Rep. Conor Lamb said on Thursday he “absolutely” supports House Democrats’ investigation of whether Mr. Trump pressured Ukraine to dig up dirt on a political rival ahead of the 2020 presidential elections.
The Democrat from Mt. Lebanon had previously kept quiet on his views on the Ukraine developments, declining to comment until the whistleblower complaint was released by Joseph Maguire, acting director of national intelligence. That complaint was made public on Thursday and was the subject of Mr. Maguire’s appearance before the House Intelligence Committee.
Still, Mr. Lamb stopped short of discussing impeachment — advocated forcefully by many of his Democratic colleagues — and instead zeroed in on national security concerns raised in the complaint.
Mr. Trump is alleged to have held up $250 million in American aid to Ukraine to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, who is a leading Democratic challenger to Mr. Trump in next year’s elections.
“We were not sending a $250 million check to them; we were sending $250 million worth of sniper rifles and grenade launchers that are actively in combat against Russian-backed forces,” Mr. Lamb said in an interview in his office.
“America, on a bipartisan basis for more than half a century, has resisted Russian aggression in that part of the world because it’s capable of triggering a war,” Mr. Lamb went on. “That kind of comes through in the way [the whistleblower complaint] is written, that this person is concerned that how the president is acting could actually make us and our forces less safe in that part of the world.”
“To me, that’s what this is all about,” he said.
New details of the whistleblower complaint have been circulating in Washington this week. And, after a months-long debate among Democrats about whether to formally pursue an impeachment inquiry of Mr. Trump, the complaint pushed many who were on the fence to support it.
On Tuesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, long reluctant to the idea of impeachment, declared the chamber’s investigations would be formally known as an impeachment inquiry.
Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Forest Hills, had called for an impeachment inquiry since June and praised the decision. On Thursday, Mr. Doyle said the whistleblower complaint “highlighted serious, credible charges that President Trump broke the law” and that the allegations “are serious enough to justify impeachment and merit the investigation planned in the House.”
“I believe that a thorough impeachment inquiry must move forward expeditiously,” Mr. Doyle said.
Earlier this week, seven freshman House Democrats — all of whom have a background in military service or intelligence gathering — penned a letter published by The Washington Post that expressed support for an impeachment inquiry.
“We have devoted our lives to the service and security of our country, and throughout our careers, we have sworn oaths to defend the Constitution of the United States many times over,” the group wrote. “Now, we join as a unified group to uphold that oath as we enter uncharted waters and face unprecedented allegations against President Trump.”
“If these allegations are true,” the letter added, “we believe these actions represent an impeachable offense.”
Mr. Lamb, a Marine Corps veteran and former federal prosecutor, was not among those who signed. Asked whether he considers himself part of that group, he said he wants constituents to know he is committed to getting the facts on his own.
“I didn’t want my judgments about this investigation to appear as part of a larger partisan move,” Mr. Lamb said. “I wanted to make it really clear to people that I was reviewing everything myself, line by line.”
“They were ready to talk about that on Monday; I wanted to wait a few days,” he said. “I think we see it philosophically the same way. It’s just a question of when you want to talk to the media or to your own constituents.”
He said he looks forward to learning more after the House Intelligence Committee speaks with the whistleblower directly, something Mr. Macguire will allow.
“The story this week isn’t which member made which statement at this time,” Mr. Lamb said. “The story this week is that a witness with a lot of courage came forward and risked a lot to make sure we knew what was going on.
“And I think that,” he added, “shows the process is working. The investigations are working.”
Daniel Moore: dmoore@post-gazette.com, Twitter @PGdanielmoore
First Published: September 27, 2019, 12:31 a.m.