Democrats Announce “Impeachment Investigation”

The Washington Examiner has more details on the doubling-down of Democrats in Congress to try to get Trump impeached:

Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee announced they are beginning an “impeachment investigation” against President Trump with a new court filing seeking undisclosed documents from the Mueller report.

          

“We are telling the court that what we are doing is not just part of normal oversight but part of our Article 1 authority and responsibility to consider all remedies, including the possibility of articles of impeachment,” Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler said.

          

Democrats sought to establish an impeachment shortcut two days after Mueller’s testimony before two House panels that was panned by critics as flat and uncertain at times. They said telling the court they are weighing impeachment would help them win more access to material Trump has refused to provide.

          

                                

          

"This is an impeachment investigation," California Rep. Eric Swallwell, a member of the panel, said. "We are suggesting here is the first time we are telegraphing to the court that one remedy we have is impeachment."

          

Nadler said his ramped-up investigation of Trump will include polling material provided to the Russians by the former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort as well as allegations Trump is violating the emoluments clause. They’ll also pursue testimony from former White House counsel Don McGahn and will subject him to “jail time and fines,” if he refuses.

The Hill also stated:

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) announced Friday that his committee is filing an application in court to obtain the grand jury material underlying former special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Russian interference and possible obstruction of justice by President Trump.

Nadler said that the panel is seeking the material in order to decide whether to recommend articles of impeachment against Trump — perhaps the Democratic chairman’s most significant and public acknowledgement that his committee is considering impeachment as a possibility.

"Because Department of Justice policies will not allow prosecution of the sitting president, the United States House of Representatives is the only institution of the federal government that can now vote President Trump accountable for these actions,” Nadler said at a press conference Friday afternoon, quoting from the application his committee was about to file in court.

“To do so, the House must have access to all the relevant facts and consider whether to exercise its full Article I powers, including a constitutional duty power of the utmost gravity — recommendation of articles of impeachment. That duty calls in the first instance to the House Committee on the Judiciary,” he continued.

The case was filed in the Washington, D.C., District Court Friday afternoon. The filing argues that the committee needs the grand jury material in order to determine whether to recommend impeachment articles, and it equates the committee’s position to the one Congress was in during the Nixon era when a court disclosed grand jury information from the Watergate investigation. 

“The Committee’s request is consistent with numerous prior instances in which it has sought and obtained grand jury materials when evaluating allegations of misconduct by government officials, including allegations against a sitting President,” the court filing states. 

The filing, which was signed by House General Counsel Doug Letter, requests oral arguments on the application. 

Nadler was joined by several committee Democrats in announcing the suit at the news conference earlier Friday afternoon. Among them was Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), a former constitutional law professor who said he personally would define the committee’s actions as an impeachment probe.

“I would say we are in an impeachment investigation,” Raskin said.

Nadler added that he would file a civil lawsuit in “short order” sometime early next week to enforce a subpoena for documents and testimony from Don McGahn if the former White House counsel does not comply with the committee’s demands, indicating the panel was still negotiating with him.

“I will not comment on reports of our ongoing negotiations with Mr. McGahn,” Nadler said.

The announcement came two days after Mueller, now a private citizen, testified for nearly seven hours on Capitol Hill about his Russia investigation. During that appearance, Mueller reiterated that his 22-month investigation did not exonerate Trump and that he did not make a decision on whether the president obstructed the Russia probe because of a Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel opinion stating a sitting president cannot be indicted.

Nadler said Friday that Mueller’s testimony showed clearly that Trump “obstructed justice and abused his office.” Trump, meanwhile, has taken a victory lap following Mueller’s testimony, which was widely interpreted to have had less impact than anticipated.

Nadler has issued a subpoena for Mueller’s full report and underlying evidence in connection with his panel’s sprawling investigation into possible obstruction and other abuses of power by Trump. 

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