Associated Press
- Top Democratic lawmakers weighed the possibility of pursuing impeachment actions against President Donald Trump in response to special counsel Robert Mueller’s report in a series of Sunday television appearances.
- House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff of California said Democrats would meet in the next few weeks to discuss impeachment based on the report’s "serious and damning" findings.
- House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler of New York said obstruction of justice "would be impeachable" but only "if proven."
- Democrats are still divided on if pursuing impeachment would be worthwhile for the party.
- Visit BusinessInsider.com for more stories.
Top Democrats said Sunday that special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on his two-year investigation could open the door to impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump.
The release of the 448-page report on the investigation into Trump’s campaign and the 2016 presidential election reopened impeachment discussions among Democrats as figures like 2020 candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren called for action from congressional committees.
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff led the charge, saying on "Fox News Sunday" that the House Democratic caucus will meet in the coming weeks to discuss possible next moves.
"That’s going to be a very consequential decision and one that I’m going to reserve judgment on until we’ve had a chance to fully deliberate on it," Schiff said.
However, Schiff later expressed caution about any motion’s chances on ABC’s "This Week."
"We are unfortunately in an environment today where the GOP leadership, people like Kevin McCarthy, are willing to carry the president’s water no matter how corrupt or unethical or dishonest the president’s conduct may be," he said. "In those kind of circumstances, when Mitch McConnell will not stand up to the president either, it means that an impeachment is likely to be unsuccessful."
Read more: Democrats are split on whether impeachment is a good use of their time, but primary voters love it
Despite the motion’s chances of success, Schiff said the caucus would ultimately have to decide "what is the best thing for the country."
Though the report said investigators could not pursue charges against the president for obstruction of justice, they were also unable to "reach a judgment" that "the President clearly did not commit obstruction of justice."
Though Trump has touted the report as a victory, it confirmed there are still dozens of unresolved investigative threads and court cases connected to the Russia investigation.
These open-ended conclusions have turned the attention on Congress to determine if Trump can be impeached.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler said obstruction of justice "would be impeachable" but only "if proven."
"We may get to that, we may not," Nadler said. "As I’ve said before, it is our job to go through all the evidence, all the information we can get."
Despite the support voiced by the chairmen Sunday, Democratic leadership is still apparently divided on the effort impeachment would take, as House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said last week that it’s "not worthwhile" for the party.
"Based on what we have seen to date, going forward on impeachment is not worthwhile at this point," Hoyer said on CNN. "Very frankly, there is an election in 18 months, and the American people will make a judgment."
See Also:
- Elizabeth Warren becomes the first senator — and first 2020 candidate — to call for impeaching Trump over the Mueller report
- The billionaire leading the charge to impeach Trump is calling on Democrats to get the ball rolling after the Mueller report
- Democrats have an intra-party battle brewing over impeaching Trump after the Mueller report’s release
SEE ALSO: Giuliani says ‘There’s nothing wrong with taking information from Russians’
DON’T MISS: Mueller’s report carved the overarching theme of Trump’s wild presidency into stone
Source: Business Insider – feedback@businessinsider.com (Ellen Cranley)