Former Donald Trump Staffer Calls For Impeachment As Trump Reportedly ‘Raging’ Over Don McGahn Testimony
A former member of Donald Trump’s transition team who describes himself, via Twitter, as a “life long Republican DC operative and law professor at Scalia Law School” now says that after reading Robert Mueller’s report on the special counsel’s Russia investigation findings, he has reached a “tipping point.” The former Trump staffer, J.W. Verret, is now calling for Trump’s impeachment.
“This weekend, I read Mueller’s report twice, and realized that enough was enough — I needed to do something,” Verret wrote in an Atlantic Monthly online article published on Tuesday. But Verret added that he is going public with his call for impeachment despite the possibility that as a professional Republican “operative,” he could be committing “career suicide.”
Verret said that even as he worked on Trump’s transition staff, he disagreed with many of Trump’s campaign tactics and policies. Nonetheless, he said he never considered aligning himself with the “Never Trump” movement of prominent Republicans who publicly opposed Trump, explaining that he considers himself a “pragmatist.”
“I felt the focus should be on guiding his policy decisions in a constructive direction,” Verret wrote.
But after reading the Mueller report — which can be accessed online via The New York Times — Verret said that he reached a “tipping point” and became convinced that Mueller has written the report as “a referral to Congress to commence impeachment hearings.”
Democrats, who control the House of Representatives, would need to draw up and approve the articles of impeachment — essentially, the charges — against Trump. However, they have been divided on whether to open impeachment proceedings, according to a CNN report. The Mueller report states that Mueller did not “exonerate” Trump of accusations that he obstructed justice in the investigation, but did not bring an indictment against Trump due to a Justice Department policy against indicting sitting presidents.
When Trump was asked by reporters on Monday whether he is concerned about Democrats beginning impeachment proceedings, Trump responded “not even a little bit,” as The Inquisitr reported.
But privately, Trump’s mood appears rather different. According to Washington Post opinion columnist Greg Sargent wrote that Trump appears to be “raging” over statements contained in the Mueller report by former White House Counsel Don McGahn, who was cited in the report more than any other single witness.
McGahn has now been handed a subpoena by House Democrats on Monday and will likely be asked to repeat and expand on his statements to Mueller in public testimony before the House Judiciary Committee next month, according to The New York Times. The Judiciary Committee would be the first committee in the House to consider articles of impeachment.
