Former independent counsel Ken Starr said Sunday, November 4, that there is no evidence to suggest that President Donald Trump committed impeachable crimes, the Hill reports.
When asked whether or not Trump had committed any “impeachable offenses,” Starr replied firmly: “Not even close.”
“I know of no evidence… that would suggest that [Trump] has committed high crimes and misdemeanors,” he said, adding that Americans are free to dislike the President — as a politician, and as a person — but explaining that the entire country cannot simply be moved toward impeachment when there isn’t a case to be made for such proceedings.
“You can hate the way he tweets, you can disagree with his policies, but be very careful before you move the country toward impeachment,” Starr said, adding that calls for impeachment are “inherently divisive.”
According to the lawyer, a consensus among citizens of the United States is needed to impeach the president, and America does not have it with Trump — nor did it have said public consensus in Bill Clinton’s case.
“We had that with Richard Nixon,” Starr explained.
Ken Starr: No evidence Trump “has committed high crimes and misdemeanors” https://t.co/B3CYy6zLFX
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) November 4, 2018
The Hill notes that the Democratic Party has purposefully stayed away from bringing up the prospect of impeachment ahead of the midterms.
As detailed by an August report from the Inquisitr , the impeachment of Donald Trump appears to have been a hot topic among Republicans, but not amongst the Democratic Party brass. The higher-ups amongst the Democratic Party seem to have made a conscious effort to stay away from talking up impeachment in order to avoid galvanizing Trump’s core base.
According to the New York Times , Representative Nancy Pelosi officially warned members of the Democratic Party to avoid bringing up impeachment until after the midterms, suggesting that steering clear of the issue had become a political strategy of the party — at least for now.
Once — and if — the Democrats take over the House, impeachment talks could hypothetically begin, but on what grounds?
Special Counsel head Robert Mueller is conducting his probe into Russian election meddling — as well as leading the investigation into alleged obstruction of justice. The Democrats could seek to seize these narratives as the basis for any potential impeachment proceedings against President Trump.
In late October — citing defense lawyers working on Mueller’s probe in addition to more than 15 government officials — Politico reported that the general consensus seems to be that the public should prepare for a major disappointment in terms of Mueller’s Russia probe, which has reportedly failed to deliver.
Former independent counsel Ken Starr appears to agree with Politico , but claims that the Federal Bureau of Investigation may be biased against President Trump — although Starr reports not having experienced any misleading exchanges in his previous dealings with the FBI.
“That never happened in my experience with the FBI,” he said, adding that he trusts Robert Mueller.
