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Three House Democrats chairing key oversight committees said in a statement that the texts show a pattern of abuse of power and that they were particularly alarmed by Trump publicly calling for China to also investigate the Bidens.

“It is unethical, unpatriotic, and wrong,” the Democrats wrote. “American Presidents should never press foreign powers to target their domestic political rivals.”

Republicans mostly defended the president or remained silent on the matter, although Texas Republican Rep. Will Hurd, who announced this summer he is retiring his House seat, said he was disturbed by the texts.

“I think some of these things are indeed damning,” he told CNN on Friday. “However I want to make sure we get through this entire investigation before coming to some kind of conclusions.”

Trump, who on Thursday openly said not only Ukraine but China should investigate the Bidens, insisted in tweets Friday that he did nothing wrong asking – that it was about ending corruption not politics.

“As President I have an obligation to end CORRUPTION, even if that means requesting the help of a foreign country or countries,” he tweeted. “It is done all the time. This has NOTHING to do with politics or a political campaign against the Bidens. This does have to do with their corruption!”

ABC News' Conor Finnegan and Katherine Faulders contributed to this report.

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