McCarthy says views on impeachment won’t change even if Taylor’s testimony is confirmed

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said Thursday his views on impeachment will remain unchanged even if testimony from a U.S. diplomat that President Trump inquired about investigating the Bidens during a call with U.S. Ambassador Gordon Sondland is confirmed.

William Taylor, the top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine, on Wednesday said one of his staffers had overheard Trump inquiring about “the investigations” by Ukraine into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden during a conversation with Sondland.

Such an inquiry would tie Trump closer to efforts, including by the president’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, to get Ukraine to launch investigations into the Bidens.

McCarthy said his views of impeachment would not change, even if Sondland were to confirm such a call when he’s slated to appear before the House Intelligence Committee next week.

“Okay, well you have a phone call, where the president asked about an investigation,” he told reporters at a press conference on Thursday regarding the Trump-Sondland call, saying none of the interactions between Trump and Ukraine would merit impeachment.

“None of that is impeachable. So the answer is no,” he said.

Top Democrats argue the new information provided by Taylor is a critical development and demonstrates an abuse of power. Republicans have brushed it off as hearsay, saying Democrats have largely relied on secondhand and thirdhand information. 

GOP lawmakers have repeatedly asked for Democrats to call the whistleblower who sparked the probe to testify, accusing House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) of concealing his interactions with the individual ahead of the complaint being filed.