Trump Impeachment Could Have Republican Senate Backing, ‘CNBC’ Correspondent Suggests
With the odds of a presidential impeachment on the rise, one man believes the action could find support from both Democrats and Republicans in the Senate.
According to CNBC’s Washington correspondent John Harwood, some Republicans may move to impeach President Donald Trump if charges are brought against him by the Democrats as a result of the special counsel’s investigation, Newsweek reported.
Harwood made his case during an edition of MSNBC’s Live with Alex Witt on Sunday, December 16, noting that while it would be an “uphill task” to recruit 20 Republicans for the two-thirds majority required to go forward with impeachment charges, it is not totally unreasonable.
“On the issue of impeachment, I do believe that Democratic leaders understand that that is where this is headed but they don’t want to appear too eager for it, that’s why they say wait for Mueller,” Harwood explained.
“Mueller seems to be accelerating the pace of actions in his investigations so that’s actually happening. I don’t think the fervor for impeachment within the Democratic party is going to be stoppable by Democratic leaders,” he added.
Harwood backed his claim about Republican support by referring to a conversation he had with former chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee Tom Davis, whom he explained believes some members of the GOP “will likely” join with Democrats to push to go forward with impeachment charges.
CNBC's John Harwood Says Even A GOP-led Senate 'Could Convict On Impeachment Charges' https://t.co/He8R9vcfKg pic.twitter.com/dfQDfxCk3k
— Mediaite (@Mediaite) December 16, 2018
While the idea of President Donald Trump being impeached has been a subject of discussion even before his election into office in 2016, the idea has become an increasing reality. Recently, special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation has led to a guilty plea from the president’s former attorney, Michael Cohen, who claimed he had facilitated illegal hush money payments to women who had affairs with the president prior to the 2016 election. Just last week, the president was also implicated by the National Enquirer‘s owner David Pecker, who claimed he had funded $150,000 for one of the payments.
Another factor in the president’s pending impeachment is Russia’s alleged interference in the 2016 presidential election campaign. A recent NBC/WSJ poll found that 62 percent of American adults believe the president has not been “honest and truthful” about the allegations of Russian collusion.
And while the president continues to maintain his innocence — and even defended himself during an interview with Reuters last week, claiming that the people would “revolt” if he was in fact impeached — NBC News reports that sources claim that the president has confided in those close to him that he is “alarmed” by the prospect.
