GOP Divided on Defense of Trump Over Ukraine

Top Republicans on Sunday offered sharply divergent views of President Trump’s interactions with Ukraine, showcasing the party’s challenges to mount a unified defense of the president in advance of public impeachment hearings set to begin this week.

One senior GOP House lawmaker condemned Mr. Trump’s decision to press Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter as inappropriate, but said it didn’t warrant impeachment.

A Republican senator said the matter would turn on Mr. Trump’s intent: If he sought an investigation of the Bidens for political reasons, that could constitute an impeachable offense.

Yet others sought to put the spotlight on the Biden family—urging investigators to probe the substance of Mr. Trump’s unsubstantiated allegations that the vice president took actions that may have benefited a Ukrainian energy company where Hunter Biden served on the board.

As the public phase of the impeachment inquiry opens, Mr. Trump’s Republican allies on Capitol Hill are trying to formulate a message that will resonate with the broader public. Though the president maintains strong backing from the GOP base, opinion polls show support for removing Mr. Trump from office hovers close to 50% among the broader public.

The Democratic-led House has scheduled two open hearings with senior U.S. diplomats this week with the hope of making a case to the American people that Mr. Trump’s conduct warrants removal from office. Mr. Trump has defended his interactions with the Ukrainian leaders, saying he was only trying to combat corruption in that country.

“Republicans, don’t be led into the fools trap of saying it wasn’t perfect, but is not impeachable,” Mr. Trump said Sunday in a tweet. “NOTHING WAS DONE WRONG!”

House Republicans are pressing Democratic leaders to bring Mr. Biden’s son before Congress as they seek to show Mr. Trump was right to have concerns about Ukrainian corruption. Mr. Trump has suggested, without producing evidence, that Mr. Biden took official actions by seeking to have a Ukrainian prosecutor removed over corruption claims that could have benefited the company while his son sat on its board.

The Bidens deny any impropriety. Hunter Biden has said his acceptance of the seat showed “poor judgment.”

A Ukrainian official this year said he had no evidence of wrongdoing by Mr. Biden or his son.

Rep. Adam Schiff, chairman of the intelligence committee, said Saturday he was evaluating the GOP witness requests—but suggested he wouldn’t allow the hearings to be used to launch an investigation of Mr. Biden.

Meanwhile, a legal battle is brewing in the courts over whether close presidential advisers must obey congressional subpoenas. Late Friday, acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney asked to join a lawsuit seeking a ruling on whether he and another White House official have to obey a congressional subpoena or a Justice Department opinion that he is immune from being called to testify.

A simple majority of the House is required for impeachment. Democrats control 233 of the 435 chamber’s seats. In the Senate, a two-thirds majority is necessary to convict and remove a president from office. There, Republicans control 53 of the 100 seats.

In 1999, then-President Clinton was impeached by a GOP-controlled House, but prevented his removal by the Senate in part by leveraging his high approval rating to keep congressional Democrats united.

During his Senate trial in January 1999, Mr. Clinton had a public approval rating of 68%, and only 32% of adults were in favor of the Senate removing him, while 60% were opposed, according to a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll at the time.

Mr. Clinton was impeached by a GOP-controlled House for lying under oath about his personal relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky and trying to obstruct justice in covering up the relationship.

Mr. Trump is under scrutiny for asking a foreign government, Ukraine, to investigate Mr. Biden, a presidential rival, and his son—with Democrats probing whether Mr. Trump temporarily held up millions in foreign assistance to add pressure to his demands.

As the hearings begin on Capitol Hill, Mr. Trump is in a significantly weaker political position that Mr. Clinton. In a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll released last week, some 53% said they approve of the Democratic-run impeachment inquiry, with 44% disapproving. Nearly half, or 49%, said Mr. Trump should be impeached and removed from the White House, with 46% opposing impeachment and removal.