Despite characterizing the actions of the 2016 Trump campaign and President Donald Trump’s subsequent actions as “far more serious than Watergate,” House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) was non-committal Sunday on the question of impeachment.
In an interview on ABC’s “This Week,” Schiff said that “the obstruction of justice in particular in this case is far worse than anything that Richard Nixon did,” and asserted later that Trump obstructed justice “in many ways.”
Rep. Adam Schiff on the Mueller report and President Trump: "The obstruction of justice in particular this case is far worse than anything that Richard Nixon did … so yes, I would say in every way this is more significant than Watergate" https://t.co/yZdNkbTlSI pic.twitter.com/ijtCWc2w4B
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) April 21, 2019
In “a normal circumstance,” he said, “the level of evidence in the Mueller report” would be “without question within the realm of impeachable offenses.”
But, Schiff added, “We are, unfortunately, in an environment today where the GOP leadership, people like Kevin McCarthy, are willing to carry the President’s water no matter how corrupt or unethical or dishonest the President’s conduct may be.”
“It means that an impeachment is likely to be unsuccessful,” Schiff said.
He said that Democrats could still opt to pursue impeachment, as Democratic presidential contender Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and others have called for following the release of the redacted report.
Democrats should ask themselves, Schiff said, “what is the best thing for the country?”
Whether or not to impeach, he added, is “a very tough question, and I think it’s one we ought not to make overnight.”
JUST IN: Rep. Adam Schiff tells @MarthaRaddatz congressional Democrats "may" take up impeachment in the wake of special counsel Mueller's report, and that the decision will be made based on "what is the best thing for the country" https://t.co/A40N3k8AwK pic.twitter.com/DcMQX34k7h
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) April 21, 2019
