Former Ken Starr Senior Counsel On Mueller Report: ‘I Would Recommend Impeachment’
A number of legal experts have asserted that Robert Mueller’s findings are so damning that they require the House to introduce articles of impeachment against the president. In fact, there was a lot of talk about Donald Trump’s impeachment following the release of a redacted version of the report, but with House Democrats seemingly worried about the consequences of doing so with the 2020 presidential primaries already looming large, it appears unlikely that an impeachment trial will come to pass. But that hasn’t stopped legal experts with extensive experience from claiming that the Mueller report is indeed an impeachment referral.
Paul Rosenzweig, the former counsel to Ken Starr, the independent investigator who had recommended Bill Clinton’s impeachment, told Yahoo News podcast Skullduggery that what Trump did to obstruct justice was “blunter by a thousandfold” than anything Clinton did during his presidency, according to Law & Crime.
He said that there was “ample reason” for the House Democrats to push with Trump’s impeachment “right now.”
“My view is that there’s ample reason right now for the House Judiciary Committee to begin an impeachment inquiry… and if it were up to me, I would recommend them to impeach. I mean, if I were called to testify today at the first of those hearings, I would say that Trump’s obstruction of justice and frankly, more importantly, Trump’s dereliction of duty in failing to address the issue of Russian interference in our electoral processes, are by themselves grounds for his impeachment.”
Rosenzweig referred to the section in the Mueller report which clarified that Trump had attempted to thwart justice on multiple occasions, but was unsuccessful mainly because his aides failed to follow Trump’s orders. Among the people who refused to obey Trump were former FBI director James Comey, Trump attorney Don McGahn, his aide Corey Lewandowski and finally then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Despite none of these people acting on Trump’s orders, Rosenzweig said that the president’s intention to obstruct justice is clear — and it is all that is needed. Articles of impeachment do not necessarily dictate that a president be guilty of a crime.
“Let’s be honest. The reality is any fair reading of this report is really deeply damaging to the president. A little more damage doesn’t really change the calculus,” said Paul Rosenzweig, a former Ken Starr attorney. https://t.co/NMejakIKN6 @politico
— Darren Samuelsohn (@dsamuelsohn) April 26, 2019
Ken Starr’s former counsel went on to say that Trump’s actions were much worse than what he had found out about Bill Clinton during the investigation. Trump’s refusal to grant Robert Mueller a direct interview, coupled with his attempts to stonewall congressional investigations, should be enough to impeach any president, added Rosenzweig.
“[Trump’s] recalcitrance in responding to [special counsel Robert] Mueller and his stonewalling of congressional investigations and the case becomes much more compelling than that which attended the [impeachment] recommendation with respect to Clinton,” he concluded.
