Steyer calls for ‘must-see TV’ congressional hearings on Trump

Billionaire philanthropist Tom Steyer called for more televised congressional hearings into President Trump’s administration during an interview that aired Thursday on “Rising.” 

“Think about the last year,” Steyer told Hill.TV’s Jamal Simmons. “We actually only had one hearing, which was in the Oversight [and Reform] Committee under Congressman [Elijah] Cummings [(D-Md.)], where they had Michael Cohen for a day, and Americans tuned in.” 

“We’ve had one other public hearing in the last year, which was Brett Kavanaugh, which was must-see TV,” he continued, referring to the now-Supreme Court justice. “That, to me, is exactly what we’re looking for. Not one hearing, but a series of hearings.”

Steyer, who has long called for the president’s impeachment, told Hill.TV that public hearings would allow the American people to decide whether Trump could be removed from office. 

The philanthropist has donated more than $120 million to political groups including his campaign to remove Trump from office, Need to Impeach, as well as a youth turnout initiative called NextGen Rising.

Progressives in Congress are also pushing their colleagues to move on impeaching Trump.

Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) announced a resolution on Wednesday that called on the House Judiciary Committee to look into whether Trump committed impeachable offenses.

However, such actions could be met less than enthusiastically among some Democrats, especially after the release of a summary of special counsel Robert Mueller’s federal probe into Russia’s election meddling.

Attorney General William Barr said in that summary that the special counsel did not find that there was coordination or conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Moscow.

Mueller declined to say whether Trump obstructed the probe itself, according to the attorney general’s summary. Barr, however, wrote that he and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein determined that the evidence was “not sufficient” to establish an obstruction of justice charge. 

— Julia Manchester