Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez calls for Donald Trump's impeachment after Mueller report, even as Democratic party demurs
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has said she will be supporting any impeachment proceedings against US President Donald Trump after Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report was released on Thursday.
The congresswoman's stance is at variance with the current Democratic leadership, which has opted to go against the impeachment idea. The shocking report has indicated that Mueller was not able to conclude that "no criminal conduct occurred" on the burning issue of obstruction.
Mueller in his report said that Congress is capable of if Trump obstructed justice in any way. Ocasio-Cortez tweeted: "Mueller's report is clear in pointing to Congress' responsibility in investigating obstruction of justice by the President. It is our job as outlined in Article 1, Sec 2, Clause 5 of the US Constitution."
The Rep. also promised that she would sign on to the impeachment proceedings that is being led by fellow freshman Rep. Rashida Tlaib from Michigan.
Ocasio-Cortez then added: "While I understand the political reality of the Senate + election considerations, upon reading this DoJ report, which explicitly names Congress in determining obstruction, I cannot see a reason for us to abdicate from our constitutionally mandated responsibility to investigate."
The Democrat from New York stressed that she has not taken any pleasure "in discussions of impeachment" in the office or on the campaign trail, and will instead focus on her main issues of "Medicare for All" healthcare policies, as well as continue to advocate for the Green New Deal in order to combat climate change.
She said: "But the report squarely puts this on our doorstep."
The special counsel prosecutors have determined that Congress still has the ability to find whether Trump obstructed justice. The team wrote: "With respect to whether the President can be found to have obstructed justice by exercising his powers under Article II of the Constitution, we concluded that Congress has the authority to prohibit a President's corrupt use of his authority in order to protect the integrity of the administration of justice."
The more senior House Democrats were more cautious compared to Ocasio-Cortez when it came to deciphering the redacted report. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told CNN earlier on April 18 that "impeachment is not worthwhile at this point," while the House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler said that impeaching Trump is "one possibility" among other options that the caucus could use to hold the President accountable.
MEA WorldWide (MEAWW) previously reported that Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report has revealed that President Donald Trump, in June 2017, had asked his former White House Counsel Don McGahn to call acting attorney general Rod Rosenstein and order him to fire Mueller, saying: "Mueller has to go."
McGahn, however, refused to follow Trump's orders and instead said that he would rather resign than trigger what he referred to as a potential "Saturday Night Massacre." The president's suggestion to fire Mueller had come after a string of firing key officials.
The report states that the president told McGahn twice to order Rosenstein to fire Mueller, saying Mueller had "conflicts that precluded him from serving as special counsel". The incident, according to the report, amounts to possible obstruction of justice by President Trump. Mueller did not reach a conclusion to criminally charge the president, however, he stated in the report that his team had found sufficient evidence to not exonerate him.