Democrats vow to accelerate Trump probe after Mueller 'victory'
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[July 25, 2019]
By David Morgan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Claiming "victory"
in two high-profile hearings on Wednesday with former U.S. Special
Counsel Robert Mueller, Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives
vowed to push forward with their investigations of President Donald
Trump.
Court action could come as soon as Thursday or Friday, with the
Democrats' determination pointing to many more months of digging by
lawmakers into Trump, his presidency and private business interests. But
the outlook for impeachment proceedings seemed as remote as ever even as
Trump seeks re-election in 2020.
Shortly after Mueller testified to two House committees on his
investigation of Trump and Russian meddling in U.S. politics, House
Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler said his panel would go to
court in the next two days.
He said the committee would move to enforce a subpoena against former
White House counsel Don McGahn and ask the court for grand jury material
related to Mueller's probe. McGahn, who was a star witness in Mueller's
448-page final report, has refused to testify to Nadler's committee.
"The excuses - I won't call them reasons - the excuses that the White
House gives for McGahn not testifying ... are the same excuses for all
the other fact witnesses. And if we can break that, we'll break the
logjam," Nadler said at a news conference with House Speaker Nancy
Pelosi and other committee chiefs.
Democrats had hoped Mueller's televised testimony to the House Judiciary
and Intelligence committees would stir public opinion and jump-start
their investigation of the Republican president.
Although Mueller refused to stray from his report and challenged some
conclusions that Democrats drew from its contents, they insisted his
testimony underscored evidence that Trump repeatedly sought to obstruct
the Russia probe.
"This is a great victory for the truth and for the possibility of
justice in the country, because America finally got to see what Special
Counsel Mueller was talking about," Democratic Representative Jamie
Raskin told reporters.
His view differed sharply from that of Trump, who told reporters after
Mueller's seven hours of testimony that "this was a very big day for the
Republican Party. And you could say this was a great day for me, but I
don't even like to say that."
"The Democrats had nothing," Trump said, repeating his attacks on the
Russia probe as a hoax and witch hunt.
'HOLDING PRESIDENT ACCOUNTABLE'
Mueller's report on his 22-month investigation, released in mid-April,
found insufficient evidence to allege that the Trump campaign conspired
with Moscow in its effort to help Trump get elected in 2016, although
campaign officials met with Russians.
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U.S. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) leads
fellow Democratic House committee chairmen in a news conference to
discuss their investigations into the Trump administration on
Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S. June 11, 2019. REUTERS/Jonathan
Ernst/File Photo
The report provided no view on whether Trump tried to obstruct
Mueller's inquiry. Both issues dominated the Wednesday hearings, in
which Mueller emphasized he had not exonerated Trump of obstruction
of justice, as the president has claimed, but sometimes struggled to
keep up with lawmakers' questions and gave occasionally halting
answers.
There was little sign Mueller's testimony would lead to a
groundswell of enthusiasm among Democrats for starting impeachment
proceedings against the president, although House Democrat Lori
Trahan joined about 90 others who say it is time to begin an
impeachment inquiry.
Pelosi, who opposes moving forward on impeachment for now, said
Democrats wanted to assemble the strongest case possible, focusing
her remarks on Trump's personal finances and his business
connections.
"One of those connections could be to the Russians and that's what
we want to find out," she said.
Congress is slated to leave Washington at the end of the week for a
long summer break, returning in September.
A House Democratic lawsuit has long been expected against McGahn,
whom Democrats view as a central figure in their probe into whether
Trump tried to obstruct Mueller's inquiry. McGahn testified to
Mueller that Trump instructed him to have the special counsel
removed and to deny having been told to do so.
Testimony from McGahn to that effect at an open hearing could give
Democrats the evidence they need for an impeachment inquiry. McGahn
declined to testify earlier this year, after the White House
directed him not to cooperate with the committee.
"The president's chant of 'no obstruction' is nonsense. His chant
that he's been 'totally exonerated' is a simple lie," said Nadler,
one of a half-dozen Democratic committee heads steering
investigations of the president.
Democratic Representative Ted Deutch said Democrats would
"accelerate the investigation and take whatever action is necessary
to hold the president accountable."
(Reporting by David Morgan; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Peter
Cooney)
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