Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke on Sunday insisted Democrats move toward impeaching President Trump, despite concerns that it could hurt the party in 2020.
“Regardless of the popularity of the idea or what the polling shows us, we must proceed with impeachment so we get the facts and the truth and there is justice for what was done to our democracy in 2016 and the other potential crimes that this president has committed,” O’Rourke told ABC “This Week” host George Stephanopoulos.
The new call to move forward on prosecuting Trump for alleged crimes he has committed since 2015 comes three days after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said she did not want to see Trump impeached, but rather “in prison.” However, House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler has called for an impeachment inquiry.
Pelosi is attempting to tow a line between more progressive Democrats like O’Rourke, who are adamant about Trump’s being prosecuted, and others who worry it will hurt the party in the 2020 elections.
The former congressman from El Paso, Texas, said he believes Trump committed crimes that can still be prosecuted.
“I think those crimes might extend beyond what we’ve seen in the Mueller report — using public office for personal gain for himself and for his family; the relationship that he has with Vladimir Putin, which has never been properly explained — from the invitation as a candidate to have Russia involve itself in our elections; his efforts to obstruct justice; the fact that he called Vladimir Putin after the Mueller report was released — called it a hoax, thereby giving him a green light to further participate in our democracy and in our elections,” O’Rourke said.
But O’Rourke refrained from promising he would move to impeach Trump if elected to president next year, saying he would have his Justice Department “follow the facts” and see what they find.
