Tulsi Gabbard now supports House Democrats starting a formal impeachment inquiry into President Trump over the Ukraine affair.

The Hawaii Democratic house member, who's often clashed with her party's leadership, as recently as Wednesday had repeatedly opposed efforts to forcibly remove Trump from office, saying impeaching Trump would make the political divide in the country more pronounced.

“However, after looking carefully at the transcript of the 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," the 2020 Democratic presidential candidate said in a statement. "Future presidents, as well as anyone in positions of power in the government, will conclude that they can abuse their position for personal gain, without fear of accountability or consequences."

The Hawaii National Guard major and Iraq War veteran, who's qualified for the Democratic National Committee-sanctioned October debate in Ohio, stipulated the inquiry "must be swift, thorough, and narrowly-focused" and not turned into "a long, protracted partisan circus."

But she added, “If we allow the President to abuse his or her power, then our society will rot from top to bottom. We will turn into a banana republic, where people in positions of power — from the president all the way down to the traffic cop — will feel it's okay to abuse their power with no consequences. This is not the kind of country that any of us want to see."

Gabbard was previously the only White House hopeful and Democrat representing a blue district to withhold her endorsement of some sort of action regarding impeachment. Her backing now brings the total number of her caucus in the House supporting such measures to about 225.

A whistleblower, reportedly a Central Intelligence Agency officer stationed at the White House, claims Trump improperly leveraged military aid to pressure Ukraine into investigating the former vice president and his son, Hunter Biden, during a July 25 phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The whistleblower complaint, in which the person says the Trump administration tried to conceal the call, is the subject of an Intelligence Community inspector general investigation.

Giuliani had been pushing Ukraine to examine Biden for threatening to withhold $1 billion in U.S. loan guarantees during a 2016 trip to Kiev if Ukraine didn't fire its top prosecutor, Viktor Shokin. The former New York City mayor asserted there was a potential conflict of interest given Shokin was looking into Burisma Holdings, of which Hunter Biden was a board member from 2014 to April this year. But Vitaly Kasko, Shokin's deputy, has stated the Burisma investigation was "dormant" during Biden's visit.

Trump on Thursday told staff at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations any person helped the whistleblower was "close to a spy,” alluding to the “old days” when punishment for spying was handled differently.