House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler said Sunday that there is “very substantial evidence” in special counsel Robert Mueller’s report that President Donald Trump has committed “high crimes and misdemeanors.”
“We have to … let Mueller present those facts to the American people, and then see where we go from there, because the administration must be held accountable,” said Nadler, who is reported to have privately supported starting impeachment proceedings against Trump and whose committee would lead those proceedings.
Muller has been subpoenaed by the committee to testify and is scheduled to appear before Congress on July 24.
CNN writes that the special counsel’s testimony could provide Democrats with the opportunity to unify and decide whether to pursue an impeachment inquiry. An increasing number of Democratic lawmakers have called for opening impeachment proceedings, but Nadler and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi have so far resisted yielding under pressure.
Speaking on CBS “Face The Nation,” House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff said that same day that Mueller’s report contains “a pretty damning set of facts” that every American needs to hear, adding that Mueller himself was the best man to bring those facts to life.
“We want the people to hear it directly from him,” Schiff stressed.
Following the release of the 448-page report earlier this year, the special counsel noted that his team could not clear Trump of obstruction of justice, saying, “If we had had confidence that the president clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said so.”
At the time, Mueller also said the “Constitution requires a process other than” the criminal justice system to hold officeholders accountable, suggesting that his obstruction investigation into the President could be carried on by Congress.
The Constitution defines high crimes and misdemeanor as impeachable offenses. Currently, 87 House Democrats support an impeachment inquiry, with Nadler allegedly voicing privately his support as well.
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