Rep. Bill Flores (R-TX) said that while he thinks impeaching President Obama would be a bad move for House Republicans, a number of his colleagues would vote to oust the President.
“If you were to ask persons and many folks in the House, has the president violated the law and will he be worthy of impeachment, I think a fair number of people would say yes,” Flores said during a telephone town hall last week, according to audio obtained by Buzzfeed.
Flores then explained to constituents that while the House has the power to impeach the president, two-thirds of the Senate would then need to vote to convict the president.
“I think all of use would agree there’s no way you get two-thirds of the Senate,” he said. “So what would happen if you did that and then you failed?”
“Well, first of all you haven’t accomplished anything because you’re not gonna change the president’s behavior if he hasn’t been convicted. And in all likelihood the media would side with the president and would help him turn his situation around just like the situation that happened with Bill Clinton back in the ’90s,” he continued.
Flores concluded that because an impeachment trial would probably be fruitless, it would just hurt the GOP.
“I think it would hurt the Congress to engage in that type of activity unless you have a high likelihood that you’re gonna be successful,” he said. “I think in this case it’s pretty obvious we can’t be.”
He then said that because “doing nothing” and impeachment are both bad options, the best move is to sue the president.
