Maxine Waters is calling on Congress to impeach “Putin’s president.”
In a tweet earlier this weekend, the anti-Trump firebrand likened President Donald Trump to Vladimir Putin’s puppet and called for his removal — despite the fact that Robert Mueller concluded in his report that Trump did not collude with Russia.
Waters revives calls for impeachment
Despite Mueller’s investigation officially concluding last week with no findings of collusion, Waters, who spent almost two years accusing Trump of such a conspiracy, does not seem to be skipping a beat. The California congresswoman accused Trump of “crimes” and “work[ing] with Russians” to “undermine our democracy” in a tweet on Tuesday.
I received some criticism b/c I said Repubs supporting Trump -after his crimes & work w/ Russians – are unpatriotic. Yes I said it! How can you know the enemy Russia is undermining our democracy & say & do nothing? If you don’t care, I do. We must impeach Putin’s president Trump!
— Maxine Waters (@RepMaxineWaters) April 23, 2019
Waters was referring in her tweet to comments she made Sunday on MSNBC’s AM Joy. The congresswoman pushed back against the more cautious strategy on impeachment held by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), who has long opposed impeachment without compelling evidence to force a bipartisan vote, and Democratic committee chairs like House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler (NY), who has joined Pelosi in keeping impeachment at arm’s length without taking it off the table.
“If the Democrats cannot decide that they’re going to move with impeachment, I guess they’re going to go on with these investigations,” Waters said. “How long are they going to go on with them? What more do they need to prove?”
Nadler has issued a subpoena for Mueller’s full, unredacted report, and has called on Mueller and Attorney General William Barr to testify before his panel. For her part, Pelosi urged her caucus in a conference call and subsequent letter on Monday to focus on congressional probes of Trump before rushing ahead.
“While our views range from proceeding to investigate the findings of the Mueller report or proceeding directly to impeachment, we all firmly agree that we should proceed down a path of finding the truth,” Pelosi wrote her letter to colleagues. “It is also important to know that the facts regarding holding the president accountable can be gained outside of impeachment hearings.”
Waters told colleagues on the conference call that she would not pressure other Democrats to follow suit but would continue to call for impeachment.
Caucus divided on removing 45
Indeed, the release of Mueller’s report last week with no finding of collusion left Democrats uncertain of how to proceed. Democrats predictably snapped from a focus on collusion to obstruction, but besides that, the caucus remains divided.
Mueller’s report sketched “links” between the Trump campaign and Russia, but did not establish a conspiracy. Mueller also identified instances of acts that he considered possible obstruction of justice, but did not make a decision on obstruction either way.
Democrats have argued that Mueller’s report is a damning indictment of Trump despite its lack of criminal charges, with many saying that Mueller intended to provide a “road map” or “impeachment referral” for Congress to proceed — a view that is endorsed by Waters, who tweeted Tuesday that Mueller had “kicked the impeachment ball to the Congress.”
Mueller kicked the impeachment ball to the Congress. The Constitution gives the responsibility to Congress to impeach an unfit president – “high crimes and misdemeanors.” What more do we need? #impeach45
— Maxine Waters (@RepMaxineWaters) April 23, 2019
Impeachment is coming…?
Waters and Pelosi continued to be at cross purposes Tuesday, as Pelosi urged Democrats to consider alternatives to impeachment before hitting the big red button. At the Time 100 Summit in New York, the speaker downplayed perceptions of a division in her caucus, saying those advocating impeachment comprise only a small group.
Without taking impeachment off the table, Pelosi added that Democrats are “not there yet” until they investigate Mueller’s findings further.
But on MSNBC’s Hardball, Waters told Chris Matthews that Trump’s impeachment can’t come soon enough and that her office phones are ringing off the hook from callers demanding impeachment. Waters said that she believes the American people will eventually pressure Pelosi to go down that path.
“I think as the level of interest and the level of not putting up with this president any longer comes to the forefront and lays on and leans on and pressures the Congress of the United States, we’re going have to do it,” she said. “We are going to have to impeach. I just wish it was sooner than later.”
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