All of Oklahoma’s congressional delegation – except Democrat Kendra Horn – are criticizing an announcement by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to form an “impeachment inquiry” against President Trump.

Pelosi did not elaborate on any charges against Trump and she did not allow a vote in the House to authorize her decision. Going against protocol, Pelosi did not form a committee to explore impeachment but instead will rely on the six Democrat committee chairmen – who have already investigated Trump for months – to conduct the “inquiry.”

“It is my job as a member of Congress to ensure our democracy stays strong,” Horn said. “That means pursuing the truth and protecting ourselves from foreign adversaries. Our national security should never be partisan.

“It is time we find a bipartisan path to bring people together and get to the truth in an honest and methodical manner. To do that, we need all of the facts. This should be a detailed and responsible investigation and not one conducted in a media circus.”

Pelosi demanded the release of a transcript of a conversation between Trump and the president of the Ukraine. But Trump had already approved the release of that transcript and the testimony of a national security employee who had criticized Trump.

In that transcript, Trump asked about the corruption investigation of former Vice President Joe Biden who admitted to threatening to withhold foreign aid to Ukraine unless they fired the prosecutor who was investigating Biden son’s business dealings.

“The House of Representatives is starting an impeachment inquiry when there are facts no member of Congress has seen — including the transcript of the call or the whistleblower report,” U.S. Sen. James Lankford, R-Oklahoma said. “Clearly, this impeachment inquiry is a politically-motivated solution and a distraction to the real work that needs to be done.”

“Democrats have been conducting an impeachment investigation for months, and they’ve been investigating President Trump since he took office,” said U.S. Sen. James Inhofe, R-Oklahoma. “Today’s announcement by Speaker Pelosi, while an escalation of Democrat smear tactics, is nothing new. It just proves, yet again, that (Democrats) are desperate and singularly focused on discrediting and delegitimizing President Trump, no matter what, in spite of his successes.”

U.S. Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Oklahoma, said the never-ending investigations by Democrats who oppose Trump is wasteful.

“The left has proven that they can and will spin anything into an impeachment frenzy. Their MO is to call for impeachment first and sort through the facts later,” said Hern. “They wasted 2 years and tens of millions of taxpayer dollars investigating the President’s ties to Russia during the campaign, promising it would lead to incrimination and impeachment, but found nothing. President Trump has been a successful and effective president, our booming economy is proof that his policies work. But the Democrats will do anything to halt his progress. They’ve wasted their first 9 months in the majority – they have no legislative accomplishments to speak of!

“Instead of showing leadership for the American people, they cannot take their focus away from impeachment and halting President Trump’s success. Today’s announcement is just another ring in their impeachment circus, further proving that their caucus is dysfunctional, chaotic, and blind to the desires of the American people.”

U.S. Rep. Tom Cole, R-Oklahoma, echoed those sentiments.

“Speaker Pelosi and her fellow Democrats are doing an enormous disservice to the country by recklessly pursuing a partisan impeachment inquiry that puts the priorities of their Caucus ahead of the needs of the American people,” said Cole. “Whether right or wrong, it’s clear that House Democrats have already decided what they want to believe. This is an alarming disservice to the American people, who rely on their lawmakers to seek the truth – not politically motivated smear campaigns.

“As an elected body of members entrusted with defending the Constitution, the People’s House should be working to actually improve the lives of the American people. Unfortunately, Democrats are set on condemning the president at every turn and in the process damaging the House as an institution.”

It is a waste of time, said U.S. Rep. Markwayne Mullin.

“Pelosi Democrats have been dead set on resisting President Trump since the day he was elected,” Mullin said. “They have wasted time and taxpayer dollars on investigation after investigation and now they’re taking it a step further with a baseless impeachment investigation.

“Will they ever stop this witch hunt? This is nothing more than a distraction from their failed socialist agenda. The American people deserve better than this ridiculous charade.”

U.S. Rep. Frank Lucas, R-Oklahoma, said the release of the transcript should have ended “rampant partisan speculation.”

If Pelosi calls for an impeachment in the House and is successful, a trial would be held in the Senate. Two-thirds of the senators would have to vote to remove a sitting president and that has never happened in the history of America.

Republicans hold the majority in the Senate and it is highly unlikely they would remove a fellow Republican. “Because of their pure hatred for President Trump, desperate Democrats and the salivating media already had determined their mission: take out the President,” said Brad Parscale, the campaign manager for Trump 2020. “The fact is that the president wants to fight the corruption in Washington, where the Bidens, the Clintons, and other career politicians have abused their power for personal gain for decades. The facts prove the President did nothing wrong. This is just another hoax from Democrats and the media, contributing to the landslide re-election of President Trump in 2020.”