Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. | Mark Wilson/Getty Images congress Senate Republicans sidestep Trump's Ukraine mess

Sen. Jim Inhofe has heard enough about President Donald Trump’s conversation with Ukraine regarding an investigation into Joe Biden.

“It’ll just be negative to [Trump] because that’s the nature of it,” said the Senate Armed Services Committee chairman. Asked whether Congress should receive details about a whistleblower complaint regarding the July 25 conversation with the Ukrainian president, the Oklahoma Republican replied: “No. I don’t think so.”


“This happens every day,” Inhofe said of negative scrutiny of the president. “Why would they quit now?”

Inhofe's dismissiveness belied the extreme caution among more than a dozen Senate Republicans on Monday night, as the GOP struggled to keep pace with the politically volatile story that’s playing out this week after reports of Trump pressuring Ukraine to probe former Vice President Biden and his family. The vast majority refused to criticize Trump, though few were vigorously defending him either.

The reluctance to comment on the story came as Trump repeatedly put more meat on the bones, acknowledging that he’d brought up Biden in a conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and indicating the conversation may have involved talks over stalled aid to Ukraine.

But with a whistleblower complaint tightly held and briefings expected later this week in Congress on the matter, Republicans said they were anxious to learn more before weighing in — including some of Trump’s toughest critics.

“I want to wait until I know what really was said. Because I’ve learned from personal experience that press reports are not always accurate,” said Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who is often one of Trump’s lonely Republican critics.

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“Right now all we have is conjecture and various sources that are unnamed,” said Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), who does not yet support Trump’s reelection bid and said the transcript of the Trump call should be released. “What has been alleged, which is that there was a demand by the president and/or by his attorney to have Ukraine open an investigation Into Mr. Biden, that’s very serious ... What actions might be taken would depend upon what actually happened.”

Most of their colleagues offered similar explanations: It was too difficult to comment on reports from The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post that Trump had explicitly pressured Zelensky to probe Biden and his son, Hunter. Few Senate Republicans directly rapped Trump on Monday amid all the uncertainty, though Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) told Alaska Public Media that Trump's conversation with Zelensky appeared "very concerning."

“I don’t think he should have raised the topic of Joe Biden with the Ukrainian president,” said Marco Rubio (R-Fla.). “I just don't think our U.S. ... foreign policy should be used as leverage against individuals in our domestic politics."

Still, Rubio said his criticism shouldn’t be taken too heavily, saying that it’s “very different from running around saying it’s an impeachable offense.” Yet some Senate Democrats previously reluctant to endorse impeachment said they were coming around as a similar shift played out in the House.

“It’s impeachable,” said Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii). “It appears as though the president will do whatever it takes to maintain power and at this point it goes beyond political calculation.”

“I have been very reluctant to support impeachment up until now,” said Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.). “I'm giving some serious thought to my position, as I'm sure many of my other colleagues are “

Yet there was no similar sea change among Republicans. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell rejected Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's request to conduct hearings and issue a subpoena to the Trump administration in response to the whistleblower complaint about the president’s conversation with Zelensky. The GOP leader deemed it an attempt to "politicize" the matter.

The Senate majority leader said the Senate Intelligence Committee is trying to bring the inspector general of the intelligence community before the panel this week.

"It's extremely important that their work be handled in a secure setting with adequate protections in a bipartisan fashion, and based on facts rather than leaks to the press," McConnell said on Monday afternoon. "It is regrettable that House Intelligence Chairman [Adam] Schiff and Sen. Schumer have chosen to politicize the issue, circumventing the established procedures."

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In a letter to McConnell (R-Ky.) on Monday morning, the New York Democrat said the Senate should hold hearings regarding any connection between delayed aid to Ukraine and Trump's reported request that the country probe the son of Biden, a leading Democratic contender in next year's presidential election. The Senate minority leader also asked McConnell to compel the Senate to issue a subpoena to bring the whistleblower complaint to Congress "as required by law."

Schumer demanded "the Senate Republican majority take immediate action to stop President Trump from withholding an Intelligence Community whistleblower complaint that by law must be transmitted to Congress, and to begin an investigation into the administration’s handling of security assistance to Ukraine," the letter reads. "The Republican-led Senate has remained silent and submissive, shying away from this institution’s constitutional obligation to conduct oversight."

Trump told reporters on Sunday that he warned the Ukrainian president about corruption in his country and that "we don't want our people, like Vice President Biden and his son [Hunter], creating to the corruption already in the Ukraine." On Monday, he added: "If you don't talk about corruption why would you give money to a country that you think is corrupt?"

Schumer requested that McConnell lean on the White House to identify any administration officials who delayed $250 million in aid to Ukraine earlier this year and release a transcript of conversation with Zelensky "during which President Trump reportedly pressured the government of Ukraine to investigate Vice President Biden and his family," as Schumer put it.

McConnell said that he had personally spoken to Trump administration officials about releasing the aid, including the secretaries of State and Defense.

Most Republicans on Monday laid off Biden, with whom many of them had served, and his son Hunter, who served on the board of Ukrainian energy company Burisma Holdings. But not all.

“Joe Biden didn’t recuse himself while his son was getting 50,000 a month doesn’t that concern you? I think that’s a big concern,” said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas). “I’m not privy to what the president’s conduct was.”

“We need to do more investigation of what was happening in Ukraine, what the connection was between Hunter Biden,” said Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), who chairs a panel on European and Regional Security Cooperation. “That needs to be investigated.”

Trump has suggested he may release more information about his conversation with Zelensky, and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said on Monday's “Hugh Hewitt Show” that Trump is "going to blow you away with his willingness to disclose and be transparent about this phone call." Most Republicans hope that he’s right.

“I want to sort through this one before I have an opinion on it,” said Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), the No. 4 GOP leader.