I can’t defend Graham’s commentary.
I can, however, address what, ostensibly, is being ignored, Trump’s proposed reasons for asking an investigation into Biden.
A president may, without abusing his power, ask a foreign power to investigate a domestic politician on the basis of having a reasonable belief the domestic politician acted improperly, illegally, etcetera.
I’ll cite to the following example of this in Politico:
there have been occasional instances in which presidents would have been justified had they sought foreign investigations into political rivals. In 1804, Aaron Burr contacted the British government, apparently to peddle a plan for severing part of the United States to form a new country in western territory. In response, President Thomas Jefferson had Burr prosecuted for treason, and he was found not guilty. We can stipulate that Jefferson was excessively involved in the treason trial. But had he instead simply asked for Britain’s assistance in gathering more information about Burr’s involvement in this plot, that would have been entirely appropriate given the high stakes for the country.
This is true despite the fact Jefferson was seeking reelection at the time and Burr, an incorrigibly ambitious politician, might still have coveted the presidency.
Trump has said the appearance of impropriety, VP Biden insisting Ukraine remove the prosecutor or no chips for Ukraine, the same prosecutor investigating Burisma, a company in Ukraine in which his son sat on the board, merited an investigation. This, of course, may be a baseless and false narrative. But to rightfully impeach Trump, it needs to be shown Trump’s narrative for asking Ukraine to investigate is false and/or baseless.
