Nadler: Trump Impeachment “One Possibility”, Says Mueller Report an Impeachment Roadmap

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) held a press conference Thursday afternoon about the release of the Mueller report in which he told reporters that impeaching President Trump is “one possibility”, but that it is too soon to tell as he wants see the unredacted Mueller report and “other evidence”. Nadler also said, “I think it was probably written with the intent of providing Congress a roadmap … with a lot of the redactions and others AG Barr appears to be trying to frustrate that effort.”

Also Thursday, Yoni Applebaum, writing at The Atlantic, said the Mueller report is an impeachment referral, citing a section of the report where Mueller states Congress has a role to play. However, Applebaum takes the curious position that impeachment would give Trump a chance to clear his name.

The redacted version of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report released on Thursday runs 448 pages. But its most important implication can be summarized in a single sentence: There is sufficient evidence that President Donald Trump obstructed justice to merit impeachment hearings.

A basic principle lies at the heart of the American criminal-justice system: The accused is entitled to a fair defense and a chance to clear his name. Every American is entitled to this protection, from the humblest citizen all the way up to the chief executive. And that, Mueller explained in his report, is why criminal allegations against a sitting president should be considered by Congress and not the Justice Department. The Mueller report, in short, is an impeachment referral.

Applebaum notes that Mueller did not clear Trump of obstruction of justice, even though Mueller admits he did not have sufficient evidence to accuse Trump of obstruction.

…if Mueller believed he could not fairly say that the president had committed a crime, he also believed he could not honestly say that he hadn’t. “If we had confidence after a thorough investigation of the facts that the President clearly did not commit obstruction of justice, we would so state,” the report explained:

“Based on the facts and the applicable legal standards, however, we are unable to reach that judgment. The evidence we obtained about the President’s actions and intent presents difficult issues that prevent us from conclusively determining that no criminal conduct occurred. Accordingly, while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him”

As implied by the Mueller report itself, it is this ambiguity that will be used to push for an impeachment inquiry based on Mueller’s list of ten possible but not proven accusations of obstruction against Trump now that the Russia collusion hoax has been officially debunked.

MSNBC video clip of Nadler attacking Attorney General William Barr’s handling of the Mueller report:

Photo of author
Kristinn Taylor has contributed to The Gateway Pundit for over ten years. Mr. Taylor previously wrote for Breitbart, worked for Judicial Watch and was co-leader of the D.C. Chapter of FreeRepublic.com. He studied journalism in high school, visited the Newseum and once met David Brinkley.

You can email Kristinn Taylor here, and read more of Kristinn Taylor's articles here.

 

Thanks for sharing!