MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace reported that a former federal prosecutor had told her that Mueller’s report on Trump obstruction of justice would put the impeachment process in motion.
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Mueller's report on Trump's obstruction will set the impeachment process in motion. https://t.co/qY18cdMB62 pic.twitter.com/67Y6rgI4yh
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) April 4, 2018
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Wallace said, “A former federal prosecutor told me Mueller’s report doesn’t preclude Mueller from indicting literally everybody else, but Trump will be dealt with just like Ken Starr dealt with president Clinton. The report puts the impeachment process in motion.”
Mueller is not going to charge Trump with a crime, because it is not clear whether or not a sitting president can be charged with a crime. The big bombshell is that Mueller is writing a separate report on obstruction of justice, which will deal specifically with Trump’s actions. The Mueller report will be the basis for impeachment proceedings.
The White House may want to celebrate that Trump isn’t a target of the investigation, which means that he is not going to be charged with a crime. It doesn’t mean that Mueller won’t charge everyone else and make Trump a target of the investigation later. The Russia probe appears to be following the Clinton impeachment precedent.
There is now a roadmap for how Trump impeachment will play out. Mueller will file his report, which will not happen for months, and depending on what Mueller’s report finds, and who controls the House of Representatives, impeachment proceedings could be put into motion.
Impeachment is moving away from the theoretical. Republicans have been concerned since the Mueller investigation started that impeachment was going to be the outcome. Since it is unlikely that Trump would ever resign under any circumstance, it looks the nation is destined to travel down the impeachment path.
The stakes for the 2018 midterm election just grew exponentially. Impeachment is not only on the table it is one report and Democratic control of Congress away from becoming a reality.
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Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
