Rachel Maddow made the perfect argument for launching impeachment proceedings on Thursday, saying the move would give Democrats more tools to fight the shameless obstruction coming from the White House.
The MSNBC host pointed out that a formal impeachment inquiry would help Democrats get the documents and testimony that the White House is currently refusing to hand over.
“Does having an impeachment inquiry open and ongoing give them more legal leverage to obtain those things?” Maddow asked. “If so, why wouldn’t they just formally open an impeachment inquiry?”
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Rachel Maddow explains the benefits of launching a formal impeachment inquiry. #ctl #p2 #maddow pic.twitter.com/kDq0G7STWQ
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Maddow said:
Procedurally would it help Congress defeat those efforts by the White House? Would it help them get those witnesses and those materials and that testimony if Democrats in the House took the formal step of opening an impeachment inquiry? Does having an impeachment inquiry open and ongoing give them more legal leverage to obtain those things? If so, why wouldn’t they just formally open an impeachment inquiry? Regardless of all of the other things that impeachment down the road might mean, why wouldn’t you just start that proceeding? I mean there is supposedly this political worry that the Republicans will get some advantage in 2020 from saying the Democrats want to impeach Trump, so therefore you can’t open up an impeachment inquiry. Hey, surprise, you know what, Republicans are going to say that anyway whether or not the Democrats are technically formally doing it. The Republicans are already trying to get political advantage. The president is already trying to get political advantage saying the Democrats are coming after him trying to impeach him. So that’s baked in. There is no way that you can avoid that attack from the Republicans by not formally opening an inquiry. But when legal observers say opening an inquiry, opening an impeachment inquiry, would give the House more tools to actually get the stuff they are seeking, that it would disadvantage the White House and their now ramped up ongoing efforts to block all forms of congressional oversight, are those legal observers right and if so, is that the grounds on which Democrats might see clear to proceed to that step and open up an impeachment inquiry, not because they are sure they are going to impeach Donald Trump, let alone remove him from office, but only because they need to start that inquiry to get access to the information, testimony, and documents they would otherwise be getting with the president and White House not fighting them the way they are.
Republicans will accuse Democrats of overreach no matter what they do
Democratic leaders have openly and frequently expressed their concerns over the political ramifications they might face in 2020 if they launch impeachment proceedings against Trump.
But the truth is that no matter what Democrats choose to do in response to the damning Mueller report and the shameless obstruction coming from the White House and Justice Department, Republicans are going to accuse them of overreaching – of being hell-bent on taking this president down.
Instead of taking those attacks lying down, Democrats should at least get something substantive out of them. That starts by formally launching a formal impeachment inquiry.
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Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.
