Mueller's statement fuels fresh calls to impeach Trump

But analysts warn the move could galvanize president's base for 2020 race

WASHINGTON - US Special Counsel Robert Mueller's first - and possibly last - public statement on the Russia investigation is fueling fresh calls on Capitol Hill to begin impeachment proceedings against US President Donald Trump, a step that Democratic leaders have so far resisted.

Surprising Washington with brief remarks on Wednesday, Mueller indicated it's up to Congress to decide what to do with his findings. The special counsel reiterated that, bound by Justice Department policy, charging a sitting president with a crime was "not an option." But he also stressed he could not exonerate Trump. Instead, he cited that same policy to say: "The Constitution requires a process other than the criminal justice system."

With Mueller closing the special investigation office and not expected to comment further, for some he appears to have left an open invitation for Congress to launch impeachment proceedings.

"He's asking us to do what he wasn't allowed to - hold the president accountable," said Representative Val Demings, a Democratic member of the House Judiciary Committee, the panel with impeachment power.

"We have one remaining path to ensure justice is served," said Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey, a Democratic presidential candidate. "It's clear that the House must begin impeachment proceedings. No one is above the law."

Staying the course, Representative Jerrold Nadler, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, on Wednesday stopped short of calling for an impeachment inquiry. "All options are on the table and nothing should be ruled out."

In response, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said on Wednesday that the Trump administration is "always prepared" for an impeachment fight, "but I don't think the American people deserve that".

Though calls for impeachment are heightened, analysts said any move to impeach could backfire.

"I think Democrats will be cautious about impeachment because they know it will mobilize the Republican base and help Trump in the 2020 elections," Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Darrell West said.

Trump's supporters view the Mueller report as a political witch hunt, and identify Trump as an anti-establishment figure who is fighting for them while Washington elites try to derail him.

Top Democrats, with almost no support from Republicans, are hesitant to go it alone on an impeachment inquiry that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has warned would be divisive for the nation. They prefer to continue the work of investigating the president and building, as Pelosi said Wednesday, a case that's "very compelling to the American people".

Nadler's committee is among six in the Democrat-controlled House that are conducting dozens of probes into subjects such as Trump's tax returns, the handling of the Russia investigation and the running of government.

"Given that special counsel Mueller was unable to pursue criminal charges against the president, it falls to Congress to respond to the crimes, lies and other wrongdoing of President Trump - and we will do so," Nadler said in a statement issued after Mueller's remarks.

But now that Mueller has made clear the work ahead won't likely include him - announcing his office is closing and he's resigning his position - it's igniting new urgency on Capitol Hill to pick up where the special counsel left off.

Representative Seth Moulton said: "Mueller did his job. Now it's time to do ours. Impeachment hearings should begin tomorrow."

AP - Xinhua - AFP

(China Daily 05/31/2019 page11)