Lofgren: House Dems Caved But Not Taking Trump To Court Was Still Right Call

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 23: In this screengrab taken from a Senate Television webcast, House impeachment manager Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) speaks during impeachment proceedings against U.S. President Donald Trump in t... WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 23: In this screengrab taken from a Senate Television webcast, House impeachment manager Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) speaks during impeachment proceedings against U.S. President Donald Trump in the Senate at the U.S. Capitol on January 23, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Senate Television via Getty Images) MORE LESS
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Despite telling senators this week to not surrender to the President’s stonewalling, Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) hesitantly said that House Democrats caved into to Trump’s stonewalling during an interview on CNN Sunday morning.

When CNN’s Jake Tapper asked what the House impeachment manager would say to “those who say “that’s exactly what the House Democrats did by not going to court to try to force subpoenas and force witnesses,” Lofgren responded “we did go to court, as you know.”

Tapper then pointed out to Lofgren that House Democrats didn’t pursue it in court, however, and that they “ultimately withdrew the cases and went to the Senate.”

“Ultimately we realized we had the evidence we were going to get, and that it was sufficient to prove our case,” Lofgren said.

When Tapper asked if that essentially meant “you surrender to the President’s stonewalling, in that sense,” Lofgren responded “I guess, in that sense, we did.”

“If we had waited for three or four years, the election would be over,” Lofgren said. “The issue would be almost moot.”

Lofgren added that if Trump is “committing a high crime and misdemeanor now, and continuing to do it, we need to act” before mentioning that when it comes to the subpoena of White House counsel Don McGahn, who was subpoenaed in April, “we’re not going to get an answer on that probably until next year.”

Earlier in the interview, Lofgren reacted to Trump’s Sunday morning tweet where he railed against Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) who he said “has not paid the price.”

“Well, that’s really unfortunate,” Lofgren said. “The President has a tendency to say things that seem threatening to people. You know, ‘she’s going to go through some things,’ ‘Adam Schiff is doing his job — he’s going to pay a price.’ I mean, he really ought to get a grip and be a little more presidential.”

Watch Lofgren’s remarks below:

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