An Arkansas lawmaker recently expressed his thoughts on the impeachment inquiry.

It comes as the House Judiciary Committee pushed toward a vote Thursday to approve articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump.

Rep. Rick Crawford (R-Ark.) echoed the statements of fellow Republicans, calling the impeachment a ploy by Democrats to discredit the president.

“I think that the threat to our national security is weaponizing an impeachment process,” Crawford said. “This is a highly political, highly partisan act on their part.”

The emotional debate continued Thursday over the two charges Trump faces, including abuse of power and obstruction of Congress for not complying with the House investigation.

“We haven’t seen anything on bribery, extortion, high crimes, misdemeanors, there’s nothing stated in the constitution has been included in these charges,” Crawford said. “So, it’s done, I think, deliberately because they know they don’t have a case, but what’s most important is that they get these articles of impeachment through so that they can apply that Scarlet Letter to the President as having been impeached. In their minds, they think that will discredit him to some degree and weaken him for re-election, but what it really points to is a lack of faith in their candidates.”

Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler abruptly delayed action on the historic vote late Thursday night. The decision came after more than 14 hours of debate that split along party lines.