As compelling as former special counsel Robert Mueller’s testimony before Congress was on July 24, it didn’t move the needle significantly when it comes to President Donald Trump’s chances of being impeached. Republicans in Congress are still unwavering loyalists, Democrats who favored impeachment before Mueller’s testimony are still in favor of it, and most Democrats who opposed impeachment before July 24 haven’t changed their minds. In an in-depth analysis for the Lawfare Blog, legal expert Quinta Jurecic explains that members of Congress have some discretion when it comes to impeaching a sitting president — and that how many Democrats will favor impeachment going forward will be determined by how severe they consider the evidence to be.
Jurecic notes that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (chairman of the House Democratic Caucus) have something in common: all of them had “harsh words for the president” during Mueller’s testimony but remain opposed to “the formal opening of an impeachment inquiry, much less articles of impeachment.”
Jurecic goes on to say that the U.S. Constitution can give members of Congress some discretion when it comes to impeachment, depending on the severity of an offense and how strong they believe the evidence to be.
View the complete July 29 article by Alex Henderson on the AlterNet website here.