Opinion| On Friday, Democratic House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler of New York stated that he feels there is due cause to start impeachment proceedings on President Donald Trump. He went on to say, however, that “public support must be behind the move before hearings begin,” according to the Hill.
“Impeachment is a political act, and you cannot impeach a president if the American people will not support it,” the Democrat told WNYC. He continued, “The American people right now do not support it because they do not know the story. They don’t know the facts. We have to get the facts out. We have to hold a series of hearings, we have to hold the investigations.”
The Hill reports:
Nadler said that he hopes to bring special counsel Robert Mueller’s report “to life” by having him testify and provide some of his underlying evidence in front of a televised audience. He said such a hearing could help clarify questions about the president’s conduct that were featured in the special counsel’s final report.
“Part of the function of Congress, just the same as the Watergate hearings 40 years ago, [is] to have a dialogue with the American people so people can make informed decisions and know what’s going on,” Nadler said.
He continued, “It’s very important that he, to a television audience and to the American people, state it and answer questions about it, even if there is no new information.”
His comments came after problems began within the Democratic Party over “how to deal with the fallout of Mueller’s report, which cleared the president of any conspiracy with Russian election interference in 2016 but declined to make a prosecutorial decision over whether he obstructed subsequent probes,” according to the Hill. “Mueller noted 10 “episodes” of possible obstruction but said existing Justice Department guidelines would have prevented him from filing an indictment. His comments during a Wednesday press briefing that he could not exonerate the president only heightened speculation that he had uncovered potential wrongdoing.”
“If we had confidence that the president clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said that,” he said, according to the Hill.
Currently, the White House is dealing with subpoenas from numerous House committees over oversight investigations. This has struck “calls among rank-and-file Democrats for impeachment proceedings to begin,” the Hill explains.
Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her cronies in House leadership have tried to stop the calls for impeachment, as they are concerned that such a drastic move might put House Democrats in a bad spot as well as consolidation of the President’s base. They have decided to push current investigations instead.
The Hill reports:
Nadler, who has been exasperated by White House efforts to block his panel from obtaining documents and testimony from current and former officials, did not completely close the door on impeachment, saying proceedings could possibly begin next year if necessary, even as the presidential election is underway.
“There might still be a point to it. That point is to say to future presidents you cannot do this, to vindicate the Constitution and say there’s certain things that can’t be done,” Nadler said. “Even in those circumstances, it might be well worth carrying on impeachment.”
“I think that he could’ve accused him anyway,” Nadler stated, going on to say, “That is his interpretation of his ethical duty under the Justice Department guidelines.”
