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This is not an impeachable offense: Republican senator on Trump

The fifth and final day of public hearings on President Trump’s impeachment inquiry included heated testimony from National Security Council Russia expert Fiona Hill and Ukraine diplomat David Holmes.

Democrats claim there is clear evidence that the president is guilty of wrongdoing and should be held accountable, but Senator Mike Braun (R-Ind.) disagrees.

“For most of us, on our side, this does not rise to an impeachable offense,” he told Yahoo Finance’s On the Move. ”And even the public opinion polls hit a peak about three, four weeks ago. And I think independents in swing states, which I know Speaker Pelosi would be looking at, don't think so, either. So it depends on which political lens you're looking through.”

Trump went on a Twitter rant Thursday morning targeting Democrats for the inquiry.

The impeachment inquiry is focused on an accusation that Trump withheld a White House visit for Ukraine’s president to push the country to announce investigations into former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and claims that Ukraine helped Democrats in the 2016 election.

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In her testimony, Hill said that Russia was benefiting from the “fictional narrative” that it was Ukraine that tried to interfere in the election.

“Based on questions and statements I have heard, some of you on this committee appear to believe that Russia and its security services did not conduct a campaign against our country — and that perhaps, somehow, for some reason, Ukraine did,” Hill said. “This is a fictional narrative that has been perpetrated and propagated by the Russian security services themselves.”

Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) said she is “not gonna pre-judge the case. I’m gonna wait and see what gets sent to us.” But she said she is “very concerned about Russia's meddling in our 2016 elections.”

“We've heard very clearly from the intelligence and national security establishment they're doing it again,” she said. “I think we need to take measures to address that. It's not the Ukrainians, it's the Russians. And we need to see what happens as the result of the proceedings in the House. There are very troubling allegations that have been raised.”

Valentina Caval is a Producer at Yahoo Finance.

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