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Schiff downplays impeachment, says that at this point, Trump is only leaving 'by being voted out'
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Schiff-downplays-impeachment-says-that-at-this-14129859.phpHouse Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., on Thursday sharply downplayed the prospects of removing President Donald Trump from office through impeachment, saying the only way he's leaving office, at this point, is "by being voted out."
Schiff's comments came a day after former special counsel Robert Mueller appeared at back-to-back hearings, including one at which Schiff presided, and offered no blockbuster revelations about his investigation into Russian election interference and Trump's possible obstruction of justice.
"We do need to be realistic, and that is, the only way he's leaving office, at least at this point, is by being voted out, and I think our efforts need to be made in every respect to make sure we turn out our people," Schiff said during an interview on CNN. "Should we put the country through an impeachment? I haven't been convinced yet that we should. Going through that kind of momentous and disruptive experience for the country, I think, is not something we go into lightly."
More than 90 House Democrats have publicly called for the launch of impeachment proceedings against Trump, and some in the party had hoped Mueller's testimony would lead to a fresh groundswell of support. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has continued to resist the effort.
Schiff cautioned Thursday that even if Trump were impeached by the House, he would claim exoneration if acquitted in the Republican-led Senate.
"I would be delighted if we had a prospect of removing him through impeachment, but we don't, and the most attractive thing to me about an impeachment is that it's among the strongest forms of censure we have," Schiff said. "But the same is true of an acquittal for the president. That's the strongest form of exoneration for him, and that stays my hand."
"We do need to be realistic, and that is, the only way he's leaving office, at least at this point, is by being voted out, and I think our efforts need to be made in every respect to make sure we turn out our people," Schiff said during an interview on CNN. "Should we put the country through an impeachment? I haven't been convinced yet that we should. Going through that kind of momentous and disruptive experience for the country, I think, is not something we go into lightly."
More than 90 House Democrats have publicly called for the launch of impeachment proceedings against Trump, and some in the party had hoped Mueller's testimony would lead to a fresh groundswell of support. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has continued to resist the effort.
Schiff cautioned Thursday that even if Trump were impeached by the House, he would claim exoneration if acquitted in the Republican-led Senate.
"I would be delighted if we had a prospect of removing him through impeachment, but we don't, and the most attractive thing to me about an impeachment is that it's among the strongest forms of censure we have," Schiff said. "But the same is true of an acquittal for the president. That's the strongest form of exoneration for him, and that stays my hand."
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