Rep. and Democratic presidential candidate Eric Swalwell (D-CA) told his Democratic colleagues in Congress to prepare for Trump impeachment.
Swalwell told Chuck Todd on MSNBC’s MTP Daily, “I do, but Chuck. No one will question my vigor in holding the president accountable, but I do want to make sure we get this right, we only get one shot at it, so prepare for impeachment. That’s what I told my colleagues. Let’s get the full Mueller report, an eighth of it has been redacted. Let’s have the special council testify publicly. Let’s have don McGahn come in and build the case that way. Bring in the public sentiment, get more Republicans besides Justin Amash. I’m the only candidate that has to try the case, so I want to make sure that I’m doing all I can as we go down this road.”
Video:
Rep. Eric Swalwell, " I do want to make sure we get this right, we only get one shot at it, so prepare for impeachment. That’s what I told my colleagues." https://t.co/c1aA1yFF1N pic.twitter.com/wzxSGUrn0X
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— PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) May 29, 2019
Eric Swalwell brought up a great point. Democrats are only going to get one shot at impeachment, so they have to make sure that they have built their strongest case possible no matter how long that takes. Those who are in favor of impeachment want it now. The question that the impeach now crowd has yet to satisfactorily answer is what happens after Trump is impeached? The Senate isn’t going to convict Trump. Mitch McConnell has made it clear that he is not going to hold a full impeachment trial. His stated goal is to squash the charges as quickly as possible.
If this is how impeachment is going to play out, what do Democrats gain? Pelosi’s slow but steady strategy is smart because it allows Democrats to investigate Trump without committing themselves to the dead-end street of impeachment right away. It would also be useful to have impeachment available if Trump wins a second term.
Democrats only have one chance at impeachment, so they need to prepare for impeachment, but not rush, and make it count, even if that means that impeachment waits until after the 2020 election.
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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
