GOP Senator throws Donald Trump under the bus after Nancy Pelosi announces impeachment

Today we got a strong signal of just how ugly Donald Trump’s Ukraine scandal is going to be, and how much the Republican Senators are worried about whether the fallout might land on them, when they unanimously voted in favor of a Democratic resolution calling for Trump to release the full whistleblower report. Then Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi announced Trump’s impeachment.

In the few hours since, we’ve seen a few Republicans stick their heads up and offer their take on impeachment. GOP Senator John Kennedy appeared on MSNBC with Chuck Todd, and semi-coherently tried to distract from Trump’s scandal. GOP House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy gave a very short speech in defense of Trump. GOP Senator Mike Crapo is taking a rather different approach.

Senator Crapo released this statement on Twitter: “I always prefer Congress remain a legislative body that advances legislation to benefit the American people. As to the question of impeachment, our entire legal system is dependent on our ability to find the truth. I will wait for further information regarding the facts of this matter and refrain from speculating on any outcomes of this discussion and process.”

In other words, on a day when Donald Trump really needs Republican Senators to speak up in his defense and assert that they have no intention of convicting him in any impeachment process, Republican Senator Mike Crapo is instead making a point of not standing up for Trump. This gives legitimacy to the accusations against Trump, and to the impeachment process. This doesn’t mean that Crapo won’t fall back in line with Trump later. But for today at least, when Trump needs people like Crapo to defend him the most, it’s just not happening.