WASHINGTON, April 23, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – US President Donald Trump said
Monday that Congress “can’t impeach” him over the findings of the Mueller
report into Russian election meddling and his alleged attempts to hamper the
investigation.
Defiantly insisting that he did nothing wrong, Trump also denied a portrait
of dysfunction in the White House where disobedient aides are said to have
saved him from committing obstruction of justice by refusing to carry out his
instructions.
Asked by reporters at a White House Easter egg event for children whether
the prospect of impeachment worries him, Trump replied: “Not even a little
bit.”
“Only high crimes and misdemeanors can lead to impeachment. There were no
crimes by me (No Collusion, No Obstruction), so you can’t impeach,” Trump
stated earlier on Twitter.
However, Democrats believe the Mueller report has revealed serious
wrongdoing by the president and have yet to decide on impeachment.
The report confirmed that Russian operatives had attempted to interfere in
the 2016 election to help Trump beat Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton,
including by hacking into email accounts.
The report also found that Trump’s campaign took advantage of the impact on
Clinton, but did not deliberately reach out to collude with the Russians.
During the probe, Trump repeatedly tried to hamper Mueller’s work, the
report said.
But Mueller did not rule one way or the other on whether Trump had
committed the crime of obstruction of justice, effectively leaving Congress
to take up the matter or not.
Democrats, who control the lower house, are so far mostly holding off from
calling for impeachment proceedings, which would be immensely divisive ahead
of 2020 presidential elections.
However, Democratic 2020 hopeful Kamala Harris said during a presidential
town hall broadcast on CNN Monday night that she believes “Congress should
take the steps towards impeachment.”
That made her the second candidate to do so, after Senator Elizabeth Warren
called for impeachment proceedings last week.
Meanwhile, powerful House committees plan to dig further into the scandal
and are pushing to be given the whole Mueller report, including parts
currently blacked out for security or legal reasons.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that Democratic leaders would hold a
conference call on Monday to discuss strategy.
“While our views range from proceeding to investigate the findings of the
Mueller report or proceeding directly to impeachment, we all firmly agree
that we should proceed down a path of finding the truth,” she said in a
statement.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler issued a subpoena on Monday
for former White House counsel Don McGahn to testify. McGahn was a key
witness in the Mueller probe and will likely be asked about Trump’s alleged
obstruction of justice.
– ‘Nobody disobeys’ Trump? –
Trump is spinning the Mueller report as a complete exoneration. He has gone
as far as saying repeatedly that the probe was a political hit job amounting
to “treason” and “spying.”
Democrats, however, say that the report has demonstrated in detail that
Trump is unfit for office, even if the evidence would be insufficient to
prove crimes in court.
Whatever the truth, Mueller’s report has inflicted damage on the former
real estate tycoon and reality TV showman’s reputation through stories of
close aides maneuvering to stop the president from going too far in his
attempts to slow down the probe.
“The President’s efforts to influence the investigation were mostly
unsuccessful, but that is largely because the persons who surrounded the
President declined to carry out orders or accede to his requests,” Mueller
wrote in his report.
This narrative clearly annoys Trump, who has built a career on his image as
a ruthless boss, famous during his television performances on “The
Apprentice” for telling contestants: “You’re fired!”
Even though the aides allegedly disobeyed him so that they could prevent
more serious damage, Trump denied Monday that any sort of insubordination
would be possible.
“Nobody disobeys my orders,” he said at the Easter egg event.
In addition to the ongoing fight over what to do about the Mueller report,
Trump faces danger from congressional probes into his business interests and
tax history, which in a break with tradition he has refused to make public.
On Monday, Trump and his businesses filed a Washington federal court
lawsuit to try and block a subpoena issued by the House Oversight and Reform
Committee to gain access to their financial records.
“The Democratic Party, with its newfound control of the US House of
Representatives, has declared all-out political war against President Donald
J. Trump,” the filing said.