Lanny Davis, attorney for former Donald Trump fixer Michael Cohen, wrote an op-ed for The Hill on Thursday saying that Robert Mueller‘s public statement was a reminder that Congress must begin impeachment hearings. Immediately.
Davis said that Mueller provided evidence that Trump obstructed justice, and claimed that Mueller’s words contradicted Attorney General William Barr‘s statement that “the Justice Department policy against indicting a sitting president had no impact on Mueller’s refusal to make a finding of obstruction of justice.”
Davis said Mueller acted properly by passing the baton to Congress.
“[Mueller’s] refusal on Wednesday to state legal conclusions on the overwhelming evidence of obstruction of justice in his report, Mueller was simply adhering to due process principles. He properly passed the baton to where it belongs: the impeachment and removal power uniquely possessed under our Constitution by the U.S. Congress,” Davis wrote.
Davis suggested Congress might never go the impeachment route if it declines to immediately begin impeachment proceedings over the evidence in the Mueller Report. Davis described the evidence as “overwhelming” and “virtually beyond dispute.”
“To hell with worrying about politics,” Davis wrote. “Our constitutional system of three co-equal branches of government is imperiled. House Democrats must being the impeachment process. Today.”
As a legal spokesperson for Cohen, Davis has gotten under Trump’s skin. Particularly since Davis used to work for former President Bill Clinton as special counsel. In March 2019, Trump attacked Cohen’s credibility because his new book showed “he committed perjury on a scale not seen before.” He then went after Davis by writing, “What does Hillary Clinton’s lawyer, Lanny Davis, say about this one. Is he being paid by Crooked Hillary. Using her lawyer?”
Speaker of the House Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has resisted calls for impeachment in the past. Her response to Mueller’s statement did not use the word “impeachment” but promised to hold Trump accountable:
The Special Counsel’s report revealed that the President’s campaign welcomed Russian interference in the election, and laid out eleven instances of the President’s obstruction of the investigation. The Congress holds sacred its constitutional responsibility to investigate and hold the President accountable for his abuse of power.
Cohen is currently serving a 3-year prison sentence in Otisville, New York for lying to Congress, campaign finance violations, tax evasion and bank fraud.
[Image via Image via Yana Paskova and Getty Images]
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