Democrats take sides on whether to impeach
Go slow or do it now is great D.C. debate
Rival Democratic factions clashed Monday night over whether or not to move forward on the impeachment of President Trump, with moderate members urging caution while progressives argued that it was time to press ahead, according to sources familiar with the matter.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi convened a conference caucus call in response to Thursday’s release of a redacted version of Robert Mueller’s final report, which explicitly didn’t clear Trump of obstructing the Russia investigation and painted the president as a serial liar who tried to influence the special counsel’s work.
Prior to the teleconference, Pelosi (D-Calif.) issued a letter to her members that appeared to throw cold water on the prospect of removing Trump from office, stating there are other means “outside of impeachment hearings” to hold the president “accountable.” She also suggested lawmakers need to get their hands on the full Mueller report before potentially pulling the trigger on impeachment proceedings.
Pelosi reiterated that point at the outset of the conference call before handing over to House committee chairmen, some of whom strayed a bit from the speaker’s waitand-see approach, a source on the call told the Daily News.
“Everybody knows I’m for impeachment,” Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), the chairwoman of the Financial Services Committee, and an outspoken Trump critic, told colleagues, according to the source.
Other left-leaning lawmakers were even more adamant.
“I think we have great evidence that the president has blatantly violated so many laws. It’s just ridiculous,” Florida Rep. Val Demings said, adding Congress has “enough” evidence to launch impeachment proceedings.
New York Rep. Eliot Engel, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, toed the Pelosi line, stressing that the House needs to proceed on the impeachment issue with “caution” while noting that the president appears to have “no qualms” about opening himself up to being “manipulated by foreign actors.”
Mueller could not find proof that Trump and his campaign committed any federal crimes relating to Russia’s attack on the 2016 election. However, the special counsel emphasized dozens of peculiar connections between Trump associates and the Kremlin and said the president’s campaign “expected” to benefit from the Kremlin’s interference. In refusing to clear Trump of obstruction, Mueller punted to Congress and said lawmakers have the power to stop a president’s “corrupt” use of power.
Meanwhile, Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s personal attorney, shrugged at mounting Democratic demands for impeachment hearings and suggested the president could actually benefit from them.
“They can do it if they want to,” Giuliani told The News before Pelosi’s conference call. “Would it politi- cally be the best thing that could happen to the president? Absolutely.”
The former New York mayor was referencing the fact that the GOP-controlled Senate would all but certainly vote down any articles of impeachment passed by the House, rendering the process toothless and allowing Trump to stay in office.
Earlier in the day, Trump appeared to bank on rigid loyalty among Senate Republicans when asked during the annual White House Easter egg roll if he’s worried about possible impeachment hearings. “Not even a little bit,” Trump responded.