As Trump Digs In His Heels, Democrats Inch Towards Impeachment

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 30: Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) (L) and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) lead fellow Congressional Democrats out of the White House following a meeting with President... WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 30: Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) (L) and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) lead fellow Congressional Democrats out of the White House following a meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House April 30, 2019 in Washington, DC. The Democratic leaders met with Trump to discuss infrastructure. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) MORE LESS
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Since the release of the redacted Mueller report, tensions have escalated tenfold between the administration and congressional Democrats, pushing some liberal lawmakers in a more impeachment-inclined direction than they previously held.

According to the New York Times, one option on the table is lashing together multiple contempt citations of administration officials and lobbing the package to a Federal District Court, after which Trump’s obstinance would more easily catalyze impeachment proceedings (à la Nixon and the Watergate tapes).

Democrats are reportedly also feeling revved up and empowered by Wednesday’s vote to recommend citing Attorney General William Barr for contempt.

“This has had a cathartic effect on the Democrats because we have finally been able to find a way to fight back at the obstructionism,” Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) told the Times. “My grandfather used to say that duck hunting is a lot of fun until the ducks start firing back. We’re starting to fire back.”

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  1. “My grandfather used to say that duck hunting is a lot of fun until the ducks start firing back."

    Hmm.

    Maybe his grand-father was doing it wrong!

  2. According to the New York Times

    … Steny Hoyer is changing his tune.

    Another good sign.

  3. It seems useful to project ahead to impeachment proceedings. Bill Clinton testified during his, but, from what we have seen so far, Trump may very well refuse to testify. What happens then?

    Also, with the Repubs in the majority in the Senate, how does that influence how impeachment proceedings would unfold? Could the majority simply vote down calling Trump to testify, or nix requests for information, or is it an open forum in terms of information requests or demands?

    We need some context here as to what the Democrats in the Senate would be able to do during an impeachment trial.

  4. In light of the administration’s continued defiance, pushing off impeachment talk is becoming untenable.

    Trump may very very be goading Democrats to impeach to unite the Republican base, but the talk of it is already doing that to a degree.

    And by not going for impeachment the democratic base is not uniting and is the new proxy to fight the moderate/corporate/progressive/far-left.

    My opinion is if Leadership continues to show the movement toward impeachment the party can be United on that front and leave the other fight where it belongs, the primary for president.

    As many have said… Leadership will move as the party and the public requires them to, goading or not, the administration is forcing our hand.

  5. Everyone needs to remember that impeachment is a gun with only one bullet. If you fire too soon, you’ll likely miss and then you have nothing. This is really not something we should be rushing towards.

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

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