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Eric Swalwell, Opinion contributor Published 4:00 a.m. ET Dec. 2, 2019 | Updated 2:34 p.m. ET Dec. 2, 2019

U.S. and Ukraine relations go further back than the now infamous phone call between Trump and Zelensky. We explain their relationship. Just the FAQs, USA TODAY

Ive mostly given up hope of Trump behaving presidentially, but some Republicans are privately disturbed and I hope they will behave congressionally.

The evidence is in, and its overwhelming: Donald J. Trump abused the power of the presidency and your taxpayer dollars $391 million in military aid to pressure a desperate ally to manufacture dirt on his political opponent.

And now we must decide what to do about it.

The Founding Fathers did not leave us helpless to a lawless chief executive; they drafted a Constitution providing that a president could be impeached for treason, briberyor other high crimes and misdemeanors.

They foresaw that a president might work with a foreign power to put his own interests over Americas, or that he might try to profit from his office, or that he might traffic in lies and obstruct justice. They, and we, might not have foreseen that one president would do all of these.

The testimony and evidence were clear from the start. The readout of President Trumps July 25 call with the Ukrainian president shows Trump asked for a favor that would directly assist his own reelection. Trumps chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, later admitted that military aid already appropriated by Congress and approved by the Pentagon was conditioned on Ukrainian investigations, and he saidAmericans should just get over it.

President Donald Trump(Photo: JIM WATSON, AFP/Getty Images)

And that was before the clear and convincing public testimony given to the House Intelligence Committee by a cavalcade of career civil servants and patriots, including several Trump appointees. The unerring direction of thetestimony was that the president used your money and resources to further his personal goals, and everyone in the administrations highest ranks knew this was so. The military aid was released only after the president was told the scheme had been exposed.

Several firsthand, front-row witnesses to this debacle have refused to testify after the president ordered them not to. We must conclude that their testimony would harm the presidents case.

There has been no plausible defense; assessing what happened here is a matter of plain facts and common sense. As a former prosecutor, this might be one of the clearest-cut cases Ive ever seen.

Now the House Intelligence Committee sends its findings to the House Judiciary Committee, which will hold a hearing Wednesday on how to proceed. We will hear from a panel of constitutional experts who will discuss how and why these uncontested violations rise to the level of impeachable offenses.

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This is a final chance for my Republican colleagues to get serious, to honor their oathsand to protect our national security.

Thus far, they have ignored clear evidence and chose instead to resurrect long-since-debunked conspiracy theories, including the Russian talking point that it was Ukraine that interfered in our 2016 election a fact-free claim directly contradicted by the unanimous finding of our intelligence agencies.

Now Republicans must stand up and be counted: Are they OKwith this presidents undebatable abuse of power? Are they prepared for what America becomes if we accept it? Is this the conduct we want to be commonplace in our childrens America?

I have hope that at least some House Republicans are starting to see the light. Behind closed doors, I saw how deeply disturbed some were by the damning details and corroborating evidence that piled up during this process. I saw that the deliberate smearing of career patriots who came in to testify, often over the White Houses objections, didnt sit well with these lawmakers.

Watergate taught us that history looks kindly on those like Sen. Lowell Weickerof Connecticutand Reps. William Cohenof Maine and Tom Railsbackof Illinois who are willing to stand up to their own party to do the right thing. Lemmings usually arent rewarded with historys praisebut rather with a grisly demise at the bottom of a cliff.

So much is at stake. We must ensure that future presidents, no matter their party, are held to account for their actions. We must ensure that foreign governments never feel empowered to interfere in Americas elections. We must make sure that we dont end up looking like Russia, where a dictator relies on disinformation to maintain power. Ironically, the whole point of supporting Ukraine is to limit the number of nations that are remade in Russias despotic image.

Ive mostly given up hope of Donald Trump behaving presidentially, but I have hope that my Republican colleagues can behave congressionally. Even people who have confessed to crimes deserve a fair process, and we will continue to give the president that fairness while pursuing swift justice come hell or high water. The future of our democracy relies on us doing this together.

Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., a former prosecutor, serves on the House Intelligence and Judiciary committees and co-chairs the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee. Follow him on Twitter at @RepSwalwell

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Trump impeachment: House Republicans have a final chance to put the nation first - USA TODAY