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A Top Intel Congressman Just Laid Out The Case For Trump’s Looming Impeachment

A Top Intel Congressman Just Laid Out The Case For Trump’s Looming Impeachment

A Democrat who sits on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence thinks the now infamous “Comey Letter” written by the President but never revealed to the public could lead to the impeachment of President Donald Trump.

Texas Representative Joaquin Castro says the letter drafted by Donald Trump and his speechwriter about why he was going to fire FBI Director James Comey could provide grounds to begin impeachment proceedings against the president.

Castro has not actually seen the letter but has read a New York Times article on Sept. 1 that says it includes a discussion of a meeting between Trump and Comey. The letter is now in the possession of Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

Castro believes if there is evidence Trump fired Comey to shut down the Russia election hacking investigation, or if Trump fires Mueller for the same purpose, that would be enough to trigger the launch of an impeachment effort.

“I said early on that if President Trump fired Comey for that reason,” Castro said on MSNBC yesterday, “then that is grounds to start impeachment proceedings.”

“If he fires Mueller for a similar reason,” continues Castro, “to get rid of the Russia investigation or because he thinks it will accomplish that – there are grounds to start impeachment proceedings.” 

This was not the first time Castro has raised the possibility of impeaching Trump.

In May, also on MSNBC, Castro said if the evidence shows Trump fired Comey to stop an investigation into former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn’s possible ties to Russia while he was involved in the Trump campaign.

Castro had told host Chris Hayleys that, “If the evidence bears out that there was an obstruction of justice I think that you likely will see Congress go down the road of impeachment.”

Castro isn’t the only Democrat talking about impeaching Trump. Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Ca) actually filed articles of impeachment in July.

About three dozen progressive groups this week cautioned the Congressmen to hold off on even talking about impeachment, let alone filing the articles as Sherman has done.

The fear is that if Trump feels threatened just as Special Counsel Robert Mueller is intensifying his investigation of Trump’s staff and family members including Jared Kushner, he will fire Mueller, setting the whole process back.

According to USA Today, the memo prepared by the polling firm Greenberg Quinlan Rosner “advises Democrats to stress the need to protect the investigation, draw a line against pardons and stress the national security implications of Russian meddling in the 2016 election while avoiding talk of impeachment.”

All of this talk doesn’t take into account that any serious impeachment effort would have to begin with a vote in the House where the Republicans have a solid majority and are unlikely to want to bring down Trump no matter how much they dislike him, if only because it would be bad for the party in the upcoming 2018 elections.

Castro, a lawyer who served in the Texas legislature before being elected to Congress in 2013, is a firebrand who like many Democrats is upset with Trump’s actions and the direction in which he is taking the country. He is anxious to get on with taking Trump down and helping his party retake the country.

However, he is likely to have to wait anyway, as the cautious Mueller moves forward with careful deliberation and many of his fellow Democrats and progressives act carefully to avoid setting Trump off prematurely.

 

Benjamin Locke

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