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Elijah Cummings, Democratic Chair of the Maryland House of Representatives' Monitoring Committee, said President Trump would be encouraged if congressional Democrats, fearing a political reaction, "do nothing" following the release of the report. Special advocate Robert Mueller.
"If we do not do anything here, what will happen is that the president is going to be emboldened." He'll be emboldened because he said, "Well, I ran away with that," he said. said Cummings in "Face the Nation." Sunday.
"We can not afford that, our democracy can not afford that," he added.
On Thursday, the Department of Justice released a redacted version of Mueller's 448 pages report, who has not established a Trump campaign partner conspired with the Russian government in the 2016 election, but nevertheless detailed the president's repeated attempts to derail and end the election. Special inquiry.
Noting that the investigators had not followed a "traditional prosecutorial judgment" because of various factors – including the Department of Justice guidelines stating that incumbent presidents could not be charged – Mueller did not. did not reach a conclusion in his investigation as to whether the President had committed hindering justice.
Since the release of the report, Democrats have been faced with the dilemma of taking the political risk of initiating impeachment proceedings against the president or continuing to investigate his conduct and business relationships through committees. from the room. While most Democratic congressional leaders and 2020 candidates advocate a cautious approach, some progressives, including Senator Elizabeth Warren and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, have concluded the conduct described in the Mueller report. justifies Mr. Trump's indictment.
Although he said he may "anticipate an" impeachment proceeding "to come," Cummings said that he "was not there yet" and warned that many Americans still do not believe the president " do things to destroy our democracy. " Nevertheless, the Democrat of Maryland said the Congress needed to take swift action to denounce the "great prejudice" he thought he was inflicting on Mr. Trump.
For further information on the president's conduct, Cummings added that indictment could be an option, even though the Republican-controlled Senate refused to convict and dismiss Mr. Trump.
"Even if we did not win, maybe even there was no dismissal, I think history would make us smile for defending the Constitution," Cummings said.
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