BOISE, Idaho — As the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and member of the Senate Committee on Intelligence, Idaho Sen. Jim Risch (R) has had a lot of major news and developments across his desk.
Sen. Risch sat down for a one-on-one interview at KTVB on Friday afternoon to discuss several major topics, ranging from Turkey's movement into Kurdish territory in northern Syria and witnessing the meeting between Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D) and President Donald Trump in the White House.
Congress has been back in session for about a week now, but Risch, who is back home like most weekends, says it has been a busy first week back.
On Thursday, Risch was on the Senate floor introducing a bipartisan bill that addressed the current situation in Syria.
Sen. Risch said he knew Turkey's invasion of northern Syria would happen after U.S. troops withdrew from the region.
Instead of focusing on what should have happened when it comes to the Middle East and presidential decisions, Risch says he hopes this legislation, which includes strategies on ISIS, restrictions on arms sales and heavy economic sanctions on Turkey, will be enough to settle things down sooner, rather than later.
"This is plowing new ground, sanctioning a NATO ally," he said.
The sanctions, Risch says, should have a major impact on Turkey's economy since it's strong but vulnerable.
Risch also discussed the continuing impeachment inquiry, which he will be a juror if it goes to the Senate. Because of that, he declined to say if he believed if it was justified right now because it would be premature.
The Republican Senator also mentioned that he was in the meeting that featured President Trump and Nancy Pelosi, where she points a finger at the president. He says Pelosi shouldn't be proud of the photo, which she made her banner photo on social media.
"I've been around a lot of presidents," he said. "I've never seen a president be spoken to like Nancy Pelosi...that's not the way you treat a president...who packed up and walked out of that meeting."
According to Risch, the meeting wasn't so much a he said, she said kind of thing, but mostly a 'she yelled and continued to as she walked out of the meeting.'
The meeting settled down into a productive one after she left, Risch said.
Watch the full, raw interview with Sen. Risch below: