Impeachment Inquiry Update: Trump Calls Schiff 'Fraud'; Security Officials Deeply Concerned About Trump's Actions

President Trump took to Twitter Friday to attack House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff and tout his conversation with Ukrain’s president as “perfect” as more than 300 former U.S. national security and foreign policy officials issued a statement saying Trump’s actions were a “profound national security concern.”

A Morning Consult poll indicated voters are evenly split over impeachment.

Trump attacked Schiff for remarks at Thursday’s hearing at which Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire testified about his handling of a whistleblower complaint about Trump’s July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during which Trump sought Zelensky’s agreement to investigate former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, a possible 2020 Democratic presidential nominee.

“It was a perfect conversation with Ukraine president,” Trump tweeted in all caps.

He then attacked the whistleblower as a partisan operative.

Former CIA Director John Brennan countered the whistleblower “deserves our praise and gratitude” and called on Democrats and Republicans with “a conscience” to prevent Trump from wreaking further havoc.

The bulk of Trump’s vitriol, however, was reserved for Schiff, D-Calif., for parodying the president by saying, “We've been very good to your country. Very good. No other country has done as much as we have. But you know what, I don't see much reciprocity here. … I want you to make up dirt on my political opponent, understand? Lots of it ... on this and on that."

A reconstructed transcript of the phone call released by the White House has Trump reminding Zelensky of all the help Washington has given Kiev in the past and then quotes Trump as asking for a “favor,” urging Zelensky to investigate Biden.

Trump called Schiff a fraud and ordered him to resign.

A Morning Consult poll released Friday indicates support for an impeachment inquiry at 43%, up 7 points from just a few days earlier. The poll surveyed 1,640 registered voters Tuesday through Thursday after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., authorized the Judiciary Committee to begin impeachment proceedings. Those surveyed were evenly split over whether an inquiry should be conducted with 13 percent saying they were unsure.

Sixty-six percent of Democrats and 33% of independents said they support the inquiry compared with just 5% of Republicans.

“Among those voters who support impeachment now, 59 percent said Trump committed an impeachable offense, a record high since Morning Consult began asking about it in May 2017,” the pollster said, adding, “37% of impeachment supporters said Trump should be removed from office because he has proved he is unfit to serve.”

The statement from national security professionals says they long have been “concerned about Trump’s actions and their implications for our safety and security.”

“President Trump appears to have leveraged the authority and resources of the highest office in the land to invite additional foreign interference into our democratic processes [a reference to Russia’s 2016 actions]. That would constitute an unconscionable abuse of power. It also would represent an effort to subordinate America’s national interests—and those of our closest allies and partners—to the President’s personal political interest,” the statement says, adding, “We consider the president’s actions to be a profound national security concern.”

It concludes: “To be clear, we do not wish to prejudge the totality of the facts or Congress’ deliberative process. At the same time, there is no escaping that what we already know is serious enough to merit impeachment proceedings. From there, the facts—and nothing but the facts—should dictate how Congress holds the president to account and signals to the world that our foreign policy and national security are not for sale.”