Should Congress Begin Impeachment Proceedings Against Trump?

What’s the story?

• Special Counsel Robert Mueller said Wednesday that “if we had had confidence that the president clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said so.”
• The White House took Mueller’s first-ever public statement as further exoneration of President Donald Trump, while (mostly) Democrats read the comment as the special counsel signaling Congress needs to act.

What are people saying?

Impeach!

• Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI), who has recently taken flak from fellow Republicans for calling for Trump’s impeachment, tweeted shortly after Mueller’s remarks:

“I’m confident that if you read volume two, you will be appalled at much of the conduct. And I was appalled by it. And that’s why I stated what I stated. That’s why I came to that conclusion,” Amash said Monday night. “We can’t let conduct like that go unchecked.”

• Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, also said it falls on Congress to respond to the “crimes, lies and other wrongdoing of President Trump—and we will do so.”
• "Although Department of Justice policy prevented the Special Counsel from bringing criminal charges against the President, the Special Counsel has clearly demonstrated that President Trump is lying about the Special Counsel’s findings, lying about the testimony of key witnesses in the Special Counsel’s report, and is lying in saying that the Special Counsel found no obstruction and no collusion,” Nadler said in a statement.
• Nadler did not mention impeachment, but said that Congress must take action.

“Given that Special Counsel Mueller was unable to pursue criminal charges against the President, it falls to Congress to respond to the crimes, lies and other wrongdoing of President Trump—and we will do so. No one, not even the President of the United States, is above the law.”

Case closed!

• Trump responded to the special counsel’s comments, tweeting: “The case is closed! Thank you.”

• In a statement later, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said, “the report was clear—there was no collusion, no conspiracy—and the Department of Justice confirmed there was no obstruction. Special Counsel Mueller also stated that Attorney General Barr acted in good faith in his handling of the report. After two years, the Special Counsel is moving on with his life, and everyone else should do the same.”
• GOP senators have said that if the House were to pass articles of impeachment against President Trump, the upper chamber would instantly kill the charges.
• Articles of impeachment require 67 votes, or a two-thirds majority. While Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is required to act on the articles, he has broad authority to set the parameters of a trial, including conducting only the briefest of hearings.

“I think it would be disposed of very quickly,” said Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-SC). “If it’s based on the Mueller report, or anything like that, it would be quickly disposed of.”

• “Why on earth would we give a platform to something that I judge as a purely political exercise?” added Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), another member of the Judiciary Committee. “We have to perform our constitutional duty, but if people think that we’re going to try and create a theater that could give you the perception that this is a matter that rises to the level of Watergate, that’s nonsense.”

What do you think?

Do you support efforts to impeach President Trump? Take action and tell our reps, then share your thoughts below.

—Josh Herman

(Photo Credits: Creative Commons; Flickr)