Washington (CNN) House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff on Wednesday called the reports that President Donald Trump pressured a foreign leader in an effort to target a political rival "the most serious misconduct of the President thus far."

"There's certainly enough to launch a formal impeachment inquiry. And at the end of the day, there may be enough to impeach the President. But we need to get the full facts first," Schiff told CNN's John Berman on "New Day."

Schiff had been hesitant in calling for an impeachment inquiry, even as several of his more progressive Democratic colleagues pushed for it in the wake of former special counsel Robert Mueller's report on Russian interference in the 2016 election. But the Ukraine bombshell has led him to change his stance.

"That compelled me to go down this path, and as you say, I have been deeply reluctant to, but I think he's given us no choice," Schiff said.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Tuesday announced a formal impeachment inquiry into Trump over the allegations that the President sought foreign assistance in targeting a political rival and may have leveraged withholding federal aid to a foreign nation unless an investigation was launched.