US 2020 Democratic presidential hopeful Tulsi Gabbard has called for transparency in Democrats’ efforts to carry out impeachment proceedings against US President Donald Trump.
“I don't know what's going on in those closed doors. We as members of Congress do not have access to the information that's being shared. I think the American people deserve to know exactly what the facts are, what evidence is being presented, as this inquiry goes on,” she told Fox News’s Hannity show on Thursday.
Gabbard also warned of far-reaching consequences of a “very partisan” impeachment probe.
“I've long expressed my concern about going through impeachment proceedings in a very, very partisan way because it will only further tear apart an already divided country”, she claimed.
The remarks followed Gabbard underscoring in late September that she supports an impeachment inquiry into Trump after “looking carefully at the transcript of [Trump’s] conversation with Ukraine's President, the whistleblower complaint, the Inspector General memo, and President Trump's comments about the issue”.
“Unfortunately, I believe that if we do not proceed with the inquiry, it will set a very dangerous precedent,” she wrote in a statement, referring to future US presidents who she claimed would “conclude that they can abuse their position for personal gain, without fear of accountability or consequences”.
She called for a “swift, thorough, and narrowly-focused” impeachment probe which “cannot be turned into a long, protracted partisan circus that will further divide our country and undermine our democracy”.
Earlier, Gabbard made it clear that she didn't back Democrats’ drive to deal with the impeachment probe because it would be “terribly divisive”.
Democrats Launch Impeachment Probe Against Trump
On 24 September, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump after a whistleblower complaint claimed that during a July phone call, Trump had pressed his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate the former US vice president and 2020 presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son Hunter.
Trump rejected the allegations as a “hoax” and a “coup”, authorising the release of the conversation's transcript to prove there was no pressure on Ukraine from his side.
