Agreed, obstruction fails since they didn’t pursue the court remedy.
I don’t think they are required to file abuse charges with SCOTUS first. But if they have to make a case on how he abused his office. I don’t think a case made on he was looking at democrat corruption is going to fly.
Well, the “abuse” hinges on delaying Ukraine payments more than 45 days. Schiff’s reaction was “your 45 days are up, ergo you’re abusing your power” when the law actually says “after 45 days of delays, the Comptroller General may give Congress 25 days’ notice that civil suit will be brought compelling payments” (which presumably will rise to SCOTUS level if it’s impeachment-level serious).