These Republicans May Not Endorse an Impeachment Inquiry. But They Aren’t Saying No. – The New York Times

Still, anti-Trump voices within the Republican Party have been emboldened by comments like Mr. Amodei’s. Republicans for the Rule of Law, the main initiative of the conservative anti-Trump group Defending Democracy Together, is spending more than $1 million to run television ads on Fox and MSNBC, calling on Republicans to “demand the facts” about Mr. Trump and Ukraine.

The campaign began last week with ads in five districts — including Mr. Amodei’s, Mr. Upton’s and Mr. Fitzpatrick’s — and will expand this week to target 12 Republican senators and 15 members of the House.

“Given where they’ve been, for congressional Republicans to say, ‘Well, we need to see all the facts,’ is a pretty important step forward,” said Bill Kristol, the conservative commentator and a founder of Defending Democracy Together.

Polls have shown a steady rise in support for the Democrats’ impeachment inquiry, with a majority of Americans approving of it. But sentiment is split along party lines.
A recent CBS poll found that nearly nine in 10 Democrats approved of the inquiry, and two-thirds strongly approved, as compared to just 23 percent of Republicans.

“Overwhelmingly, Republicans oppose the impeachment inquiry,” said Mr. Ayres, the pollster. “They want their Republican elected officials to defend the president and protect him from his many enemies.”

But for Republicans in swing districts who have tight re-election races, like Mr. Fitzpatrick in Pennsylvania, defending Mr. Trump at all costs is not an option. In Washington State, for instance, Representative Jamie Herrera Beutler, who represents a district Democrats have targeted, has echoed Mr. Amodei, saying that while there is not yet evidence of impeachable offenses, “for sake of this nation we should all follow a process that does not put conclusions before facts.”

Here in northern Nevada, though, sentiment runs strong in favor of Mr. Trump. Mr. Amodei’s district stretches south from Reno, past the cattle ranches and casinos that line the road to the state capital, Carson City, and into largely rural areas like Douglas County, where members of the local Republican women’s club were having their monthly luncheon last week.