Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo, who initially declined to comment on the Democrats’ push for impeachment of President Trump, has broken his silence. No drum roll needed here.

Crapo is going with the Republican Party line, saying Trump has done nothing to warrant impeachment and that the Democrats are holding up progress on more important congressional business. That’s good news for Trump fans in Idaho who might have been worried about Crapo breaking ranks with his party.

So with Crapo now on board, it’s clear how Idaho’s congressional delegation will vote if (or when) impeachment comes to floor votes. Congressmen Mike Simpson and Russ Fulcher will oppose impeachment, while Sens. Crapo and Jim Risch vote for acquittal. No surprise there.

As you might expect, three former Idaho Democratic congressmen — who do not have an official say on the matter — think differently.

“We’re a nation of laws. If he (Trump) breaks the law, then dammit, he must be held accountable,” says Richard Stallings.

“My money is on (House Speaker Nancy) Pelosi on this one,” says Larry LaRocco. “She knows what she’s doing.”

Walt Minnick says the president was “wrong” to ask the president of another country to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, or any other potential political opponent.

Republicans dismiss the move toward impeachment as a political fishing expedition, and they have a point. Impeachment talk in Washington has been swirling since the day that Trump took office.

Robert Mueller’s report didn’t meet Pelosi’s threshold for impeachment, and now Democrats are making a big deal of a friendly phone chat between Trump and the new president of Ukraine. Get over it, people.

But Democrats are not off the rails with this. It’s not OK for a president to solicit help from a foreign government to investigate Trump’s potential political opponent (Ukraine’s interference in U.S. elections is no better than Russia’s). And it is not OK for a U.S. president to use as a bargaining chip military aid for a country that would do practically anything to get it — up to, and including, how Biden’s son got that lofty job with a Ukrainian company (Biden was the vice president at the time).

“He (Trump) has, in fact, broken the law,” Stallings said. “As president of the United States, he cannot ask other countries for assistance in investigating his political opponents. That is an impeachable offense, and he’s done it twice by asking China to investigate Biden.”

LaRocco says Pelosi was right to take a “slow approach” toward an impeachment inquiry. But the president’s call to Ukraine and the whistleblower’s complaint left her with no choice but to call for the inquiry.

“Republicans have their talking points, but I don’t think the facts line up with their opinion on this,” LaRocco says. “They are trying to defend the indefensible.”

It doesn’t take a fearless forecaster to predict the outcome. Unless the political world turns upside-down, the Democratic-controlled House will vote for impeachment while the Republican-controlled Senate goes with acquittal. Of course, there will be a lot of high political drama in the process.

Neither Stallings nor LaRocco are predicting a different outcome, but they see some shifting in public opinion — and even among a few Republicans in Congress. LaRocco points to a recent Washington Post poll showing that 58 percent of Americans support impeachment — up 20 points since July.

“I think the dam is going to break,” Stallings said.

Minnick says that although the results seem to be “pre-ordained,” he’d like the process to play out and see what the evidence shows. He hopes business is conducted fairly, “to the extent possible.”

That may be wishful thinking, but it’s understandable why Minnick wants a civil approach. He was a White House staffer during the Nixon administration, overseeing drug-control programs internationally. He left shortly after the famous “Saturday Night Massacre,” and moved to Idaho.

“I decided I couldn’t work with the president any longer,” he said. “But I’m sympathetic with the agony that must be felt with the White House staff. It’s not a pleasant time for anyone there.”

I’d hate to think that “impeachment” will become a new standard in presidential politics. But it has been at the forefront of thinking throughout Trump’s presidency and I suspect Hillary Clinton would have received similar treatment from Republicans had she won three years ago.

Chuck Malloy, a longtime Idaho journalist, is a columnist with Idaho Politics Weekly, where this column first appeared. He may be reached at ctmalloy@outlook.com.