Will Hurd: You can vote against impeachment but disagree with Trump's behavior

Rep. Will Hurd (R-Texas) confirmed to CNN's Jake Tapper on Sunday that he plans to vote against articles of impeachment, but argued that it's still possible to do so while disagreeing with President Trump's behavior.

The exchange:

TAPPER: "Are you not worried at all that your vote will essentially be seen as giving a green light for every president in the future to use their power to ask foreign leaders, pressure foreign leaders, to investigate political rivals?"

HURD: "No I don't believe that's the message that's being sent. You can vote against impeachment and still disagree with some of the policies or some of the behavior. As you said in the lead-up, this is such a monumental vote. Using this process of impeachment is one of the most serious things the House of Representatives can do. ... My fear is that you weaponize impeachment for political gains in the future."

Why it matters: Hurd, one of several Texas congressmen who will not seek re-election in 2020, has been a critic of Trump at times and was originally seen as a potential swing vote for impeachment. He signaled his "no" vote in November, claiming that impeachment hearings had not shown evidence that Trump "committed bribery or extortion."

• Hurd argued that impeachment should be a bipartisan process and that at the moment the only thing that's bipartisan is the opposition — noting that at least two Democrats are set to vote against impeachment.

Go deeper: Hurd says Ukraine quid pro quo would be "violation of the law"