Last updated on September 25th, 2023 at 08:54 pm
Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke said on Wednesday that Robert Mueller has now made it clear that impeachment is the only remaining tool to hold Donald Trump accountable for the crimes he laid out in the final special counsel report.
During an interview with MSNBC’s Chris Matthews, O’Rourke said members of Congress – Democrats and Republicans – must put politics aside and do the right thing.
“[Mueller]Â is clearly referring to impeachment and he is demanding that we do this now or forever lose the opportunity to act,” the former Texas congressman said.
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“Act now or lose our democracy forever,” he added. “That is the choice before us.”
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Beto O’Rourke says Robert Mueller made it clear that Congress must act to hold Donald Trump accountable. #ctl #p2 pic.twitter.com/CgCKjhahbk
— PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) May 30, 2019
O’Rourke said:
Act now or lose our democracy forever. That is the choice before us. And I’m grateful to those lawmakers, including Republican Justin Amash, who have put this country ahead of their own political careers. And I understand political considerations. I’ve held elected office. I’m campaigning for one right now. But this moment demands more of us. And we will be judged by how we have faced these facts. For Robert Mueller to come forward today, someone who is famously reticent, and out of the hundreds of pages of his report, to focus on the fact that we were attacked by the Russians and that there is somebody who obstructed justice and lied to investigators, and then to say the criminal justice system is not the way to hold this person accountable, there’s another process under our constitution, he is clearly referring to impeachment and he is demanding that we do this now or forever lose the opportunity to act. So it’s that clear to me. I hope it is that clear to those members of Congress who have the opportunity to act while there’s still time.
The calls for impeachment continue to grow louder
There is no question that Robert Mueller was referring to impeachment on Wednesday when he said that the Constitution “requires a process other than the criminal justice system to formally accuse a sitting president of wrongdoing.”
Mueller’s comments didn’t only make a liar out of attorney general William Barr, but they provided Congress a clear roadmap – and it is now up to lawmakers in the legislative branch to take the baton and run with it.
It still remains unclear if Democrats will move forward on impeachment – at least in the short term – as Speaker Nancy Pelosi insists on building an “ironclad case” before doing so.
But calls for Congress to launch a formal inquiry will only grow louder following Robert Mueller’s statement on Wednesday.
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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.
