Schiff: Democrats ‘may’ take up impeachment proceedings

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said Sunday that Democrats “may” take up impeachment proceedings against President Trump.

Schiff added during an appearance on ABC’s “This Week” that impeachment efforts would likely be unsuccessful because Republicans “are willing to carry the president’s water no matter how corrupt or unethical or dishonest the president’s conduct may be.”

“It may be that we undertake an impeachment nonetheless. I think what we’re going to decide as a caucus is what is the best thing for the country,” Schiff said.

JUST IN: Rep. Adam Schiff tells @MarthaRaddatz congressional Democrats “may” take up impeachment in the wake of special counsel Mueller’s report, and that the decision will be made based on “what is the best thing for the country” https://t.co/A40N3k8AwK pic.twitter.com/DcMQX34k7h

— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) April 21, 2019

Schiff added during an interview Sunday on “Fox News Sunday” that he plans to “reserve judgment” on impeachment until after Democrats deliberate on the issue.

{mosads}”So we will have to decide, do we nonetheless go through an impeachment because to do otherwise would signal that somehow this president’s conduct is OK? … Or do we decide that we’re better off doing the oversight through the context of oversight hearings by the various committees rather than a formal impeachment?” Schiff said.

“That’s going to be a very consequential decision and one that I’m going to reserve judgment on until we have a chance to deliberate about it,” he added.

His remarks come after the release last week of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report. The more than 400-page document did not uncover evidence to conclude that the Trump campaign conspired with Moscow to influence the 2016 election. However, he concluded in his report that the Trump campaign knew that it would benefit from Russia’s illegal efforts to interfere in the election. 

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) last week called on the House to begin impeachment proceedings against Trump following the report’s release.

Warren in particular cited a portion of Mueller’s report in which he wrote that Congress has the authority to conduct obstruction of justice investigations, saying that such probes can provide a check if a president is corrupt.