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Democrats have renewed their thoughts on the dismissal of President Donald Trump after the release of Special Advocate Robert Mueller's report, leading progressives and some presidential candidates calling for swift action – Democratic leaders have warned to stay moderate.
In interviews with ABC News, half a dozen Democrats in the House continued to be wary of immediately initiating impeachment proceedings against Trump, even as they highlighted the unflattering portrayal of the White House and actions of the president.
Advancing the impeachment process, they argued, could alienate voters and help Trump prepare for the 2020 elections, compromising the party's chances of retaking the White House and Congress by obscuring the Democrats' messages on health and cooking issues.
"Congress is responsible for oversight," said Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Michigan, at ABC News. "But we also have work to do for people."
(Drew Angerer / Getty Images) President Donald Trump attends an event at the White House on April 18, 2019.But some of the rising stars of the party and presidential candidates said Mueller's findings called for a quick response.
"It's not about politics," MSNBC Senator Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, the first presidential candidate said Friday to support the impeachment process. It does not even concern Donald Trump himself. This is what a president of the United States should be able to do and the role of Congress: no, a president can step in to stop an investigation of a foreign power that has attacked the country. "
The seriousness of this misconduct requires that the elected representatives of both parties put aside their political considerations and fulfill their constitutional duty. This means that the House should start an impeaching proceeding against the President of the United States.
– Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) April 19, 2019
In an interview with CNN on Friday, former Housing and Urban Development Secretary (HUD), Julian Castro, said it would be "perfectly reasonable" for Congress to initiate impeachment proceedings.
The other candidates in the Democratic presidential election have not pledged to continue the impeachment process, with some suggesting that it may be better at this stage to let voters go to the polls in 2020.
Mueller determined that the Trump campaign had not conspired nor coordinated with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election, but it did not stop the president from obstructing justice – highlighting 11 possible obstruction and suggesting that it would be up to Congress to make this judgment.
Mueller wrote this "[w]With regard to the question of whether it can be held that the President obstructed justice by exercising the powers conferred on him by Article II of the Constitution, we concluded that the Congress had the power to prohibit the corrupt use of his power by a president to protect the integrity of the administration of justice. "
(Mandel Ngan / AFP / Getty Images) On this archival photo taken on March 25, 2019, Jerry Nadler, chair of the US House Judiciary Committee, goes to his office located on the US Capitol in Washington, DC.Democratic leaders, including Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, and House Judiciary Committee Chair Jerry Nadler, are afraid to rush to action, but have not ruled out impeachment. Based on Mueller's own words, they indicated that Congress should first consider the unredacted report and hear the testimony of Attorney General William Barr and the Special Council on the findings of the report.
"As the President has said many times, step by step," ABC News Ashley Etienne, Pelosi's Director of Communications, said in response to Warren's comments. "We are focused on obtaining the full and unredacted version of the report and its underlying documents, as well as the hearing of Mueller." The report raises other issues and concerns that we think the American people deserve answers. "
Nadler sent a subpoena to appear at the Department of Justice for the full report and asked for Mueller's testimony. Barr is scheduled to testify before the House and Senate in early May.
"Once I hear Mueller's testimony, I'll be able to make a decision," New York representative Gregory Meeks told ABC News.
Pelosi scheduled a conference call on Monday with the House Democratic Caucus, dispersed around the world during the two-week parliamentary recess, to discuss the report and next steps of the House.
Many Democrats have outright recognized the political reality surrounding the dismissal of the president: as Nadler and Pelosi argue, the efforts would be in vain without the adherence of the Republicans.
In the Senate, 20 Republicans should join all Democrats to condemn Trump, who remains extremely popular among Republican voters and lawmakers.
"If, for example, you find yourself in similar situations where the House does one thing and the Senate does something else – then the President could proclaim his innocence even more than he does now," Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Illinois, a member of the House's Monitoring and Oversight Committees, told ABC News.
After the publication of the report, the majority of Republicans called for their defense, noting that Mueller had not filed a complaint against the president and found no evidence of coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia.
"I feel good about being right," representative Matt Gaetz of Florida told ABC News.
Representative Tom Reed, R-New York, a moderate who frequently votes with Democrats, said Mueller's findings "should be celebrated."
"The time has come for our country to heal, because every policy is constantly tearing our country apart and hurting real people," he said.
Senator Mitt Romney, R-Utah, appeared to be one of the only Republicans to be concerned about Mueller's findings, but he did not suggest any action in Congress.
I have now read the report written and canceled by Mueller and I offer you my personal reaction: pic.twitter.com/ACnExskqXJ
– Senator Mitt Romney (@SenatorRomney) April 19, 2019
Some undecided House Democrats said in private that the president's actions described in the Mueller report were impenetrable offenses, but they worried about the political costs of a failed impeachment process.
For the moment, only the most progressive voices of the party, including Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, have joined activists and a handful of Democrats to support the impeachment process without further action by committees in the House.
Mueller's report makes it clear that Congress is responsible for investigating an obstruction of justice by the President.
This is our job, as stated in article 1, paragraph 2, clause 5 of the United States Constitution.
As such, I will sign on @RashidaTlaibResolution of dismissal. https://t.co/CgPZJiULOL
– Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) April 18, 2019
"In my opinion, people are really in conflict over the need to hold the president accountable and about how we are getting closer to this country and how we are going to get out of this chapter in the history of this country," Rep Ro Khanna, D-California, told ABC News.
ABC, Luke Barr, contributed to this report.
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