A+ A-

Decision for Trump impeachment "very difficult" - House Intel Cmte chair

WASHINGTON, April 21 (KUNA) -- House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff said Sunday that the decision to impeach President Donald Trump is a "very difficult decision." In an interview on Fox network, Schiff said "I think it's a very difficult decision and we're going to have a caucus about this over the next couple weeks to try to figure out what the best course is. Not for the party (Democrat), but what's the best course for the country." He added that "it's certainly the case that an impeachment would be unsuccessful if the Republican Party continues to place party above country, continues essentially to back the president no matter how unethical or dishonest his conduct maybe, and sadly, that's where we are right now." He affirmed "we will have to decide, do we nonetheless go through an impeachment because to do otherwise would signal that somehow this president's conduct is OK, that future presidents can engage in this kind of corruption without consequence, or do we decide that we are better off doing oversight through the context of oversight hearings by the various committees rather than a formal impeachment? "That's going to be a very consequential decision and one that I'm going to reserve judgment on until we have a chance to fully deliberate about it," he stressed.
Meanwhile, he affirmed that the Mueller report "makes it absolutely crystal clear that the initiation of this investigation was not only warranted, but absolutely necessary because it revealed a widespread, systemic effort by the Russians to help the Trump campaign.
"That, I think, is the overriding conclusion of this report. And we need to, I think, - to put our emphasis on making sure that kind of intervention never happens again," he stressed.
Furthermore, Schiff told ABC network "it may be that we undertake an impeachment nonetheless." He added "what we're going to have to decide as a caucus is what is the best thing for the country.
"Is the best thing for the country to take up an impeachment proceeding because to do otherwise sends a message that this conduct is somehow compatible with office or is it in the best interest of the country not to take up an impeachment that we know will not be successful in the Senate because the Republican leadership will not do its duty?" he remarked.
For his part, House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler told NBC network that "obstruction of justice, if proven, would be impeachable," adding ""we may get to that, we may not." He affirmed "it is our job to go through all the evidence, all the information we can get, and to go where the evidence leads us." On the other hand, President Trump's Attorney Rudy Giuliani said in an interview with CNN that "there's nothing wrong with taking information from Russians," but that "it depends on where it came from." Asked if he would have taken information from Russians against a candidate, he responded "I probably wouldn't. I wasn't asked. I would have advised, just out of excess of caution, don't do it." (end) si.ibi