Four House Judiciary members say they will ‘move forward’ with impeachment

Four House Judiciary Committee Democrats said in a Friday op-ed that they will “move forward” with an impeachment effort against President Trump.

Democratic Reps. David Cicilline (R.I.), Pramila Jayapal (Wash.), Mary Gay Scanlon (Pa.) and Veronica Escobar (Texas) wrote in an op-ed published in The Atlantic that after former special counsel Robert Mueller’s testimony on Capitol Hill this week, “it is up to Congress to act.”

“Our investigation will seriously examine all the evidence as we consider whether to bring articles of impeachment or other remedies under our Article I powers,” the four Democrats wrote. “Our Constitution requires it. Our democracy depends on it.”{mosads}

The lawmakers noted that the Judiciary panel has filed an application in court to obtain grand jury documents referenced in Mueller’s report, adding they plan to obtain “additional underlying evidence, as well as enforce subpoenas for key witness testimony, and broaden our investigations to include conflicts of interest and financial misconduct.”

“Congress has patiently tried to work within traditional means to get to the bottom of this extraordinary situation,” the lawmakers wrote. “Committees have called witnesses and requested evidence, only to be stonewalled by Trump and his associates. The president’s refusal to comply with the Constitution, statutes, and established congressional oversight defies the rule of law.”

The Democrats called Mueller’s testimony before the House Judiciary and Intelligence panels this week a “watershed moment” that came three months after his team released its 448-page report detailing findings from its two-year investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible obstruction of justice by Trump.

“When the redacted report finally became available to Congress and the American people, it painted a damning picture of a corrupt president who welcomed and encouraged an attack on our country, capitalized on it, and then tried to cover up what he had done,” the lawmakers wrote. “At this point, it is up to Congress to act on the evidence of multiple counts of obstruction of justice committed by the president, and to continue our investigation into whether he has committed other high crimes and misdemeanors.”

While Mueller’s testimony revealed little new information, House Democrats have signaled they are moving forward with lawsuits and subpoenas in the wake of the testimony, even as their caucus remains divided over launching an impeachment inquiry into the president.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) has said the panel is seeking the underlying Mueller evidence and that lawmakers would decide whether to recommend articles of impeachment against Trump.