George Conway, the husband of White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, and a group of prominent conservative lawyers are calling for an “expeditious impeachment investigation” into President Trump in the wake of revelations about his dealings with Ukraine, as well as his public call for China to investigate a top political opponent. 

“We believe the acts revealed publicly over the past several weeks are fundamentally incompatible with the president’s oath of office, his duties as commander in chief, and his constitutional obligation to ‘take care that the laws be faithfully executed,'” Checks & Balances, the conservative coalition George Conway launched last year, said in a joint statement released Thursday. Sixteen attorneys, some of whom served in Republican administrations, signed the statement.

{mosads}The attorneys acknowledge that new facts related to Trump are emerging on a daily basis. But they write that Trump’s July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and public call for China to investigate 2020 presidential candidate Joe Biden prove Trump violated the oath of office. They also cite text message exchanges between U.S. diplomats as an example of the president violating his sworn oath. 

“These acts, based on what has been revealed to date, are a legitimate basis for an expeditious impeachment investigation, vote in the House of Representatives and potential trial in the Senate,” they write. 

“We have not just a political candidate open to receiving foreign assistance to better his chances at winning an election, but a current president openly and privately calling on foreign governments to actively interfere in the most sacred of U.S. democratic processes, our elections.”

Paul Rosenzweig, who once served as former President George W. Bush’s deputy assistant secretary for policy at the Department of Homeland Security, and Don Ayer, who served as deputy attorney general in President George H.W. Bush’s administration, were among the signatories. 

Rosenzweig told The Washington Post that the statement was meant to provide “intellectual cover” for other Republicans and help them do the right thing. Most Republicans up to now have defended Trump’s actions. 

Check & Balances, which began with the goal of urging conservative lawyers to speak out about Trump, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Hill. 

A litany of revelations regarding Trump’s efforts to encourage Ukraine into investigating Biden led the House to launch a formal impeachment inquiry last month. A whistleblower complaint filed within the intelligence community is at the center of the inquiry. 

The complaint accuses Trump of, among other things, asking Zelensky during a July 25 phone call to work with his personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, and Attorney General William Barr to find dirt on the Biden family. A White House memo on the call also reveals that the president asked for a “favor” after Zelensky addressed military assistance. 

Many Democrats have speculated whether Trump used hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid as leverage as part of the talks. Trump has denied accusations of wrongdoing, repeatedly describing his call with Zelensky as “perfect.” 

He’s also railed against the impeachment inquiry, labeling it a “witch hunt” and “coup” by the Democrats. The White House said earlier this week that it would not cooperate with the inquiry, likely inviting a constitutional clash with Congress.