Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez explains why the Ukraine scandal is much more serious than any previous Trump allegation

Although House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) finally supports a formal impeachment inquiry, she has reportedly made clear to her caucus that she wants the scope of the investigation to be narrowly focused on Ukraine, rather than the broader litany of scandals and constitutional violations President Donald Trump has been accused of on everything from Russia to emoluments.

Speaking to CNN's Chris Cuomo on Wednesday, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) opined that this was the right move, in part because the Ukraine scandal is different from all the other scandals in a very big way: It concerns Trump's attempts to impact a future election.

"One of the things we've been seeing by the president is he has been engaging in continuing, escalating, disturbing behaviors," said Ocasio-Cortez. "This is a very serious matter of national security. We're talking about the president using the full power of the United States government in order to pursue and manufacture a politically motivated investigation against a political opponent."

"But what also makes this urgent is that this is about something that is going to happen. The 2020 election," continued Ocasio-Cortez. "We have the opportunity to act now to prevent a profoundly destabilizing action, an intervention in our democracy, before it happens. I think that is a profoundly urgent action that we need to take right now and everything else is just as serious. All of these transgressions against our democracy are extremely serious, but we are investigating things unfortunately that have already happened. When it comes to Ukraine, we are talking about potentially meddling in the 2020 election that has still yet to happen."

"So you have the idea of preemptive action versus what so much of this country believes is a presumptive disposition, which this is what you guys do, you use your power, you use it to help yourself, you'll take information on any opponent you can get and this is what they all do, that's what he's doing and it not really a crime," said Cuomo. "Maybe you like it, maybe you don't, maybe you see substance, maybe it just style but to nullify an election? Why is it that important?"

"This is completely different," said Ocasio-Cortez. "What we are talking about here is the president essentially participating in what looks like a series of events that looks like extortion. Withholding aid to an ally and then, quote unquote, asking for a favor to essentially benefit yourself politically, not in the interest of the United States of America, but in the interest of your own reelection."

Watch below: