Are impeachment hearings inevitable? Since a redacted version of the Mueller reports was released late last week, the talk of impeaching President Donald Trump has picked up steam. And if you watched the Sunday morning news programs, the momentum for impeachment is palpable.
Outright calls to start proceedings that could lead to the ouster of the president have only come from a handful of politicians—no surprise, all Democrats. And, so far, only three Democratic 2020 presidential candidates have clearly stated their desire for Congress to move in that direction: Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and, to a lesser extent, both Julián Castro and Pete Buttigieg.
Today, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) appeared on Meet the Press and when asked if the findings in the Mueller report were impeachable offenses, Nadler said yes.
WATCH: Chuck Todd asks Rep. Nadler if he thinks the Mueller Report includes grounds for impeachment@chucktodd: “Do you think this is impeachable?”@RepJerryNadler: “Yeah, I do… obstruction of justice, if proven, would be impeachable.” pic.twitter.com/gH9Hm47joj — Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) April 21, 2019
Also, today on CBS News’ Face the Nation, Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) said, although he’s “not there yet” he could “foresee” impeachment proceeding “possibly coming.” And he went on to state that even if the Senate fails to confirm the House’s vote to impeach, “History would smile upon us for standing up for the Constitution.”
Elijah Cummings says that even if the House moves to impeach Trump and the Senate votes against it, "history would smile upon us for standing up for the Constitution."
Via CBSpic.twitter.com/OPrjACfQFN — Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) April 21, 2019
Additionally, in an appearance on ABC News’ This Week, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA), although he did mention the opposition on the Senate side and other Republicans who will not put partisanship aside, Schiff did say the Mueller report did show, “without question within the realm of impeachable offenses.”
This has the feel of a moving train that can’t be stopped. Those who flatly said no to impeachment prior to the Mueller report’s release seem to be sounding a bit more like Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) and Maxine Waters (D-CA) now.
Wuzzupdoc42 on April 21st, 2019 at 21:44 UTC »
An article in the Guardian listed republican senators who voted for impeachment of Clinton, and their words reasoning why they voted as they did. My senator was on that list. I copy-pasted his own words and sent him an email, reminding him that he voted against obstruction of justice in the past, he should do so now.
Aliensinnoh on April 21st, 2019 at 20:53 UTC »
My guess is that the Dems are going to wait to decide on impeachment until after Mueller testifies in Congress. If that goes well, they impeach, if it doesn't really lead anywhere, they keep talking about it as a scandal and holding hearings but don't impeach.
HoldthisL_28-3 on April 21st, 2019 at 18:59 UTC »
These are the "don't impeach" talking points I've heard so far, and some responses. Maybe this should be pro con list? I'm biased, as I'm for impeachment. I was on the fence before, but no longer.
Wait until 2020. Why? So we can give the GOP several months to build a new strategy? So we can give Trump a chance to do his own version of the Reichstag? Do you really think that's below him?
18 months is like 18 years with this admin. There will be many, many, many more scandals that bury this report by then, and the only thing solidified in the mind of everyday voters in November 2020 will be that Trump was exonerated because Barr came out first and said so. Letting this go now and trying to bring it up again at election time will only play into the GOP gas-lighting strategy that this was just a witch hunt and "Dems just can't let it go".
Let the people decide when they vote. They did decide, in 2018. And, the new Congress took an oath to uphold the Constitution. Let's say we don't impeach and Trump still "wins" in 2020. We will look back and say "Holy shit, our best opportunity to unseat Trump was to impeach him after the Mueller report and we didn't even fucking try."
But, the Senate won't convict! This is along the same logic as "Why vote? The system is rigged anyway."
We actually don't know what the Senate will do. We know almost for sure if the verdict came before the trial and that verdict was today, then yes, GOP senators would not convict. But, we have no idea what the outcome of the trial will be, how that will sway public sentiment, what kind of pressure that will put on GOP senators to ditch Trump in favor of getting re-elected, or even what effect the assuredly million more Trump scandals coming our way will have on the aforementioned.
If we don't act to impeach, the message we are sending to the voting populace, and future generations, is that what Trump did and got away with was tolerable, and it sets a dangerous precedent going forward.
If the Senate doesn't convict, Trump will get a victory. If we don't try, Trump definitely gets a victory. He get to claim that if he was so guilty, why didn't the Dem led House impeach? And, the GOP gets off without being held accountable (being forced to stand with Trump or with Rule of Law).
If we don't even try to impeach, the number 1 winners of that scenario are automatically: Trump, the GOP, and Russia (who gets another free pass at fucking with our elections in 2020).
But, let's say we impeach and the Senate doesn't convict. They may claim victory, but who is to say that translates into Trump winning the election in 2020? There are many different outcomes at that point based on sentiment and forcing GOP senators to side with Trump and putting their re-election at risk.
But, it might rally his base. It will also rally ours, potentially more.
It's political suicide, look what it did to Republicans under Clinton. Did it really hurt Republicans that much?They got full power less than 20 years later and despite being the minority of the country they are mopping the floor with Democrats, deciding policy, installing lifetime conservative judges that will impact generations to come. It was a long game that galvanized their base and set the no holds barred strategy going forward that crippled the second half of Obama's presidency and demonized the Clintons to the point that no one could understand why they didn't like Hillary, they just didn't.
Lol bro, if you try to impeach Trump, he will for sure win in 2020! Then, please, call your House reps and give them your support for starting the impeachment process.