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House of Representatives Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.) Speaks at a Press Conference on April 18, 2019 in Burbank, California (Mario Tama / Getty Images )
Felicia Sonmez
National Journalist in the Washington Post Political Press Team
Paul Kane
Senior Congress Correspondent and Columnist
Democrats in the House will meet to discuss the opportunity to initiate impeachment proceedings against President Trump, a key legislator said Sunday.
House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.) Said in "Fox News Sunday" that the Democratic House caucus would meet in the coming weeks to discuss the issue.
"This is a very consequential decision on which I will reserve my judgment until we have had the opportunity to deliberate fully on it," Schiff said.
In an appearance in "This Week" on ABC News, Schiff also said that although the findings of the Mueller report are "serious and damning," he did not think that the Senate would condemn Trump if the House indicted him.
"Now, we may still be impeaching. I think what we are going to have to decide as caucuses is: what is the best thing for the country? ", Did he declare.
Democrats have been divided into impunity since the publication Thursday of the report of special advocate Robert S. Mueller III on Russia's interference in the 2016 election.
On Friday, two contenders for the Democratic presidency of 2020, Senators Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) And Julián Castro, Secretary for Urban Development and Housing under the Obama administration, seized the report's findings to plead the cause of dismissal.
But others, including Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), And Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.), Urged members of their party to delay any impeachment proceedings and to continue their investigations on Trump.
The Democratic division gained momentum on Sunday as another presidential candidate, Rep. Tim Ryan (Ohio), said it was too early to officially open a dismissal procedure.
Ryan stated that it was "quite clear" that the President was obstructing justice and that the Mueller Report described a set of "very, very, very serious" circumstances, but that House committees should continue to watch Trump.
"Let the Judiciary Committee look into the matter," Ryan said on CNN's "State of the Union," stressing that Democrats should "educate the American people" about the investigation. "Let's see where that leads."
Trump has sought to discredit parts of the Mueller report, including in a tweet on Friday in which he refuted claims that he could have obstructed justice by calling it "bullshit".
On Sunday, Rudolph W. Giuliani, Trump's personal attorney, defended the president's tweet.
"There is nothing wrong with gathering information from the Russians," Giuliani said on "The State of the Union," suggesting that campaigns routinely receive information from unusual sources.
Giuliani said that he did not think that his own 2008 presidential campaign would have accepted information from Russian sources, but claimed that it would not have been illegal to do so.
"There is no crime," he told animator Jake Tapper.
Michelle Lee contributed to this report.
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