|
Democratic Representative Ro Khanna, vice chair of the 98-member
Congressional Progressive Caucus, told reporters he thought
former Special Counsel Robert Mueller's multiple findings of
obstruction by Trump formed the strongest basis for impeaching
the Republican president.
"I think it would be helpful if we were able to get through the
process by the end of the year, before the political season
really gets on the way," Khanna said.
He was referring to the presidential nominating contests that
start early next year, kicking off with the Iowa caucuses on
Feb. 3. Twenty Democrats are vying for their party's nomination
to face Trump in the November 2020 election.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other more moderate Democrats
have urged caution in pursuing impeachment amid opinion polls
showing only lukewarm support for it.
So far, at least 127 House Democrats, out of 235, have
registered their support for impeachment proceedings. At least
218 votes are needed to approve formal charges.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler has held a
series of hearings on Trump and has been looking into his 2016
presidential campaign's contacts with Russian operatives amid
multiple findings that Moscow tried to influence the U.S.
election that year in Trump's favor and sow U.S. political
divisions.
Trump has denied any wrongdoing and has repeatedly said that
investigations into his 2016 campaign and actions since taking
office in January 2017 are a "witch hunt."
Khanna said that if House investigations were to spill into the
2020 presidential and congressional election year, he feared
Democrats "would unfairly be accused of being political," which
many Republicans already contend.
"We have to be meticulous, we have to be comprehensive, but I
think there's enough time if we start addressing things in
September to get the work done this year," Khanna said of the
need to quicken the pace on an impeachment probe.
Pelosi has called on fellow Democrats to methodically probe
Trump, but has said holding House votes on impeaching him could
be a waste of time given the lack of support so far among Senate
Republicans. Removing Trump from office would require a
two-thirds vote by the Republican-controlled Senate.
Democrats hesitant about impeachment have instead urged that
efforts be focused on defeating him in his 2020 re-election bid.
(Reporting by Richard Cowan; Editing by Peter Cooney)
[© 2019 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2019 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|
|
