Adam Schiff ‘Just Not Convinced’ Impeaching Trump Would Be ‘The Right Thing For The Country’
In an interview broadcast Sunday, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff said that he is “just not convinced” that impeaching President Donald Trump would be “the right thing for the country,” Mediaite reports.
Schiff went on ABC’s This Week to discuss with host George Stephanopoulos the latest developments in American politics amid increasingly intense calls for the impeachment of President Donald Trump.
What reignited the calls for Trump’s impeachment was special counsel Robert Mueller’s impromptu press conference during which he all but directly called on Congress to bring impeachment proceedings, putting even more pressure on Democratic leadership, especially House Speaker Nancy Pelosi who has remained adamantly opposed to the idea.
In agreement with Pelosi, Schiff suggested that impeaching Trump would be pointless, given that the Republican-controlled Senate would probably never convict the president.
“Well, look, I think we’re going to do what’s right for the country and at this point, the speaker has not reached the conclusion, and I haven’t had either, that it’s best for the country to put us through an impeachment proceeding that we know is destined for failure in the Senate,” he said, adding that this could possibly change if the White House continues to “stonewall” House investigations.
According to Schiff, the Democratic Party has “an important legislative agenda to try to advance,” which is what lawmakers should focus on, while taking aim at the commander-in-chief “outside the context of impeachment.”
Blasting the Republican Party as a “cult of the president’s personality,” Schiff said that impeaching Trump would not be good for the United States.
He said that the Democrats “have to figure out in that context, is this the right thing for the country, and I’m just not convinced, not yet, that that’s the case.”
When pressed by Stephanopoulos, who argued that Mueller had laid out in his report evidence that warrants an inquiry, Schiff pivoted to slamming William Barr, suggesting that the attorney general has made an effort to mislead the public by deliberately misinterpreting Mueller’s findings.
Schiff To Push For Subpoenaing Mueller To Testify If He Won’t Do So Voluntarily https://t.co/2zwB8afOMJ pic.twitter.com/NjkY5CYRaM
— Talking Points Memo (@TPM) June 2, 2019
The New York Times published yesterday a list of House Democrats supportive of impeachment. More than 50 lawmakers have publicly called for the impeachment of Trump.
As previously reported by The Inquisitr, some top Democrats — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in particular — appear to be fighting against the launching of an impeachment inquiry.
This appears to have impacted public opinion about the House speaker, who now has a lower approval rating than Trump. Forty-three percent of Americans approve of Trump, and 40 percent approve of the job Pelosi is doing. Her approval rating is higher among those who consider themselves moderate or conservative, however.
