Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Thursday that congressional investigators must discover the White House official who talked to the whistleblower behind the complaint against President Donald Trump about his Ukraine telephone call.
"As to the whistleblower complaint – the transcript speaks for itself – no quid pro quo," Graham said in a statement. "The Democrats bought a pig in a poke.
"It is imperative we find out which White House official talked to the whistleblower and why," he added. "Why didn't they lodge the complaint?"
Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire testified before the House Intelligence Committee on Thursday on the complaint that he provided to congressional committees the day before.
Maguire released a redacted, unclassified version of the complaint early Thursday before his testimony.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Tuesday that six committees in the Democratic-controlled House would investigate President Trump for impeachment regarding the July 25 telephone call.
Graham, 64, in his third Senate term, attacked the complaint as "a coordinated effort to take second-hand information to create a narrative damaging to the president" and challenged House members on their myriad probes.
"If you believe this complaint has put the public in grave danger, don't you have an obligation to vote to launch an impeachment inquiry?" he asked. "Americans deserve to see where you stand and evaluate your judgment."
Graham referenced when he was in the House in 1998 when legislators voted to impeach Democratic President Bill Clinton.
"The House of Representatives, one month before a general election, voted to authorize an impeachment inquiry of President Clinton," his statement said. "It was bipartisan and received support from 31 Democrats.
"We voted then — and House Democrats should vote now to start an impeachment inquiry."
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