WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on Thursday made the following statement after reading the whistleblower complaint:

“We don’t need to overthink this. The President of the United States engaged in a massively corrupt act and he admitted to it. President Trump urged a foreign government to investigate his political rivals and directly encouraged them to coordinate with his campaign operatives—all in plain sight. The memo released by the White House and whistleblower complaint confirm this. President Trump’s actions trample the rule of law and weaken our nation’s security. To endorse this corruption by doing nothing would change the complexion of America forever,” said Murphy.

On Tuesday, Murphy called on the U.S. House of Representatives to begin an impeachment inquiry into the president’s efforts to press a foreign nation into the service of his reelection campaign. Earlier this month, Murphy traveled to Ukraine, Serbia, Kosovo and Germany where he spoke directly with President Zelesnky about this issue. Last month, Murphy blasted the administration’s decision to withhold national security aid to Ukraine. In May, following reports that Rudy Giuliani was traveling to Ukraine, Murphy sent a letter to U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jim Risch to submit an official congressional inquiry to the Trump administration about why a private citizen was traveling to Ukraine to work with a foreign government in a Trump campaign re-election effort. Last Friday and after the whistleblower complaint was reported, he renewed that request.

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