According to a report at the Daily Beast, there is a battle within the Republican Party over whether they should use their control of Senate committees to launch retaliatory investigations into the whistleblower whose report was the starting point for President Donald Trump's impeachment.
On Monday, the Washington Post's Rachael Bade reported that there was a possible revolt brewing in the GOP caucus against Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) over his stated desire to encourage the heads of various Senate committees to start their own investigations once the president is acquitted as expected.
Later in the day, those fissures broke out into the open.
"With the Senate on the eve of a vote to acquit Trump on charges that he abused his power by withholding U.S. aid to Ukraine to secure that investigation, the Biden corruption counter-case has transformed into a core concern for the president’s base of supporters—many of whom now want to see the GOP-controlled Senate use its power to “get to the bottom” of it when the impeachment trial is over," the Beast's Sam Brodey wrote. "The problem, however, is that on Capitol Hill, the appetite for a sweeping probe into the Bidens and Burisma appears limited—even among staunch defenders of the president."
Speaking on the Senate floor, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) attempted to throw cold water on Graham's plans that appear to be aimed as much at pleasing Donald Trump as attacking Democrats.
“I think we should all hold hands in a big circle, sing Kumbaya, and quit all the stupid investigations,” Paul explained. “We can do these endless recriminations forever and ever if we want… I think people are tired of the damn impeachment. Why can't we start talking about some things we could do to help the country, you know?”
Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) agreed, while also admitting that he has concerns about the Bidens.
“I don’t think there should be a tremendous, long-term protracted something unless something is there,” Lankford told the Beast when asked about Graham's proposal.
"There also appears to be limited interest in a Senate investigation into the whistleblower complaint that sparked the impeachment inquiry, another core concern for the president’s base," Brodey also noted, adding, "The path ahead for the Senate GOP, then, is fraught: after a hard-won fight to defeat Trump’s impeachment, they will have to balance ramped-up pressure from an aggrieved GOP base, hungry for revenge, with weary senators’ desire to leave everything Ukraine behind."
That is not to say that some GOP lawmakers aren't anxious to launch investigations.
According to Sen. Marco Rubio, “I don’t think there can be any doubt that the arrangement that Vice President Biden’s son had is one that, under any other circumstances, people would ask questions about."
You can read more here.