If you thought the Mueller Report would cause Democrats to move on from trying to impeach Trump, you were severely mistaken. The Democrat Impeachment Train merely switched tracks.
The first track, consuming two-and-one-half years, was Russia collusion. The Mueller report did derail that impeachment track, by finding no conspiracy with or coordination between the Trump campaign and the Russians. In short, Mueller found no collusion, a non-legal term that comports to conspiracy or coordination.
But the Mueller report did not reach a conclusion, one way or the other, on obstruction of justice, deferring to the Department of Justice.
Attorney General William Barr and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, relying on the facts in the Mueller report, found no prosecutable obstruction of justice (putting aside whether a President could be indicted while in office). Democrats promptly launched a smear campaign against Barr, particularly when he indicated DOJ was investigating how “spying” on the Trump campaign took place. Barr is now Democrat and #TheResistance Enemy No. 1, though they are curiously quiet about Rosenstein, their hero when the Mueller investigation was ongoing, who agreed with Barr’s finding of no obstruction.
Now the Impeachment for Russia Collusion Train is the Obstruction Train, which has two engines: Obstructing the Mueller investigation and refusing to comply with House committee subpoenas.
Democrats are whipping themselves into a frenzy, and some form of impeachment proceeding appears unstoppable.
Democrats just can’t let go of impeachment, and as much as Nancy Pelosi has warned that impeachment could be politically damaging to Democrats in 2020, the base is forcing her hand.
Politico reports, Pelosi clashes with fellow Dems in closed-door debate on impeachment:
House Democratic leaders sparred internally on Monday over whether to begin an impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump, with Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her allies rejecting the call to move forward for now, according to multiple sources.Reps. David Cicilline of Rhode Island, Jamie Raskin of Maryland and Joe Neguse of Colorado — all members of Democratic leadership — pushed to begin impeachment proceedings during a leadership meeting in Pelosi’s office, said the sources. Pelosi and Reps. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico, Hakeem Jeffries of New York and Cheri Bustos of Illinois — some of her key allies — rejected their calls, saying Democrats’ message is being drowned out by the fight over possibly impeaching Trump.
WaPo (and the others) report that Rhode Island’s David Cicilline is one of the lead instigators to at least commence impeachment proceedings:
“It’s a fact-finding process,” said Rep. David N. Cicilline (D-R.I.) of the push to start an impeachment inquiry. Cicilline was one of the lawmakers who make the case to Pelosi in the meeting. “There’s no doubt that opening an inquiry strengthens the hand of Congress in forcing compliance with subpoenas, whether it’s for documents or individuals.”
I’m very familiar with Cicilline, since he’s from Rhode Island. I covered his campaigns closely. He’s sorely lacking in judgment in many ways, and if the Democrats follow him, they may find themselves falling off a cliff.
Cicilline is pushing so hard for impeachment, he even wants to start impeachment proceedings if Don McGahn fails to testify:
Cicilline is not alone, other Dem representatives, and #TheResistance figures like Harvard Law professor Laurence Tribe, are pushing the track of impeachment for asserting executive privilege as to McGahn:
Fox News reports that the pressure is growing to do something within the next couple of weeks:
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi could soon be left with no choice but to embrace calls from some within her party to impeach President Trump, one senior Democrat told Fox News.The Senior House Democrat — speaking on the condition of anonymity — said, despite Pelosi’s repeated attempt to quell talk of impeaching the president, “isn’t going to be able to hold off on impeachment much longer.”“It is coming to a head,” the Democrat told Fox News, before predicting the mounting pressure from inside her own ranks could force Pelosi to change her position “within the next two weeks.”
Now that a lone Republican, Justin Amash, is on board the Impeachment Train, it’s harder for Democrats to argue against it.
You can just sense the momentum towards impeachment from Democrats and their supportive media. But there’s a flip side. Many Trump supporters want Democrats to go down the impeachment track, figuring it will only help Trump.
This could be the perfect impeachment storm.
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