The buzz among Democrats investigating President Trump’s alleged obstruction of special counsel Robert Mueller’s 2016 election investigation has all but vanished from the halls of Congress now that Democrats have seized on a new whistleblower complaint against the president.
Democrats are done talking about Mueller, whose shaky testimony last summer did little to bolster their case that his 448-page report into 2016 election interference implicated the president.
The party’s effort to oust Trump is now centered almost exclusively on his July 25 call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky and a whistleblower complaint alleging the White House tried to conceal a record of the call because it showed Trump abusing the presidency.
“The consensus in our caucus is that our focus now is on this allegation,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said when asked about other committee investigations into Trump. “This is the focus of the moment because this is the charge.”
The shift away from Mueller-related investigations could not have happened soon enough for Democrats. Weekly Judiciary Committee hearings, headed by Chairman Jerrold Nadler of New York, conveyed a circus-like atmosphere that showcased combative witnesses and nasty exchanges between lawmakers.
Nadler had expanded his investigation beyond collusion and obstruction of justice into other alleged wrongdoing by the president, including whether he paid hush money ahead of the 2016 election to Playboy model Karen McDougal and adult film actress Stormy Daniels.
But Republicans, and even some Democrats, ridiculed Nadler’s approach. The muddled effort, meanwhile, had failed to change public opinion about the president.
After months of congressional hearings, press conferences, and court battles with the Trump administration, the vast majority of voters still overwhelmingly opposed impeachment, according to polling conducted as late as mid-September.
Democrats believe the whistleblower complaint and transcript of the call with Zelensky will move the needle on impeachment and should become the main focus of an investigation, not obstruction, collusion, or any of the other matters Nadler was pursuing.
“When we prioritize the president’s misconduct, there is no doubt this rises to the top,” Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, who is a pro-impeachment Democrat, told the Washington Examiner.
In a private meeting with Democrats last week, Pelosi told lawmakers she is pushing other Trump investigations onto the back burner.
Unlike the collusion and obstruction inquiries, she said, the allegation that Trump asked a foreign leader to dig up dirt on a political opponent would resonate beyond Congress.
“It is understandable to the public,” Pelosi told rank-and-file Democrats in the closed-door meeting. “It has clarity in terms of what he did.”
The new allegations against Trump allow Pelosi to shift the investigation away from Nadler and into the hands of a closer Democratic ally and fellow Californian, Rep. Adam Schiff, who runs the Intelligence Committee.
Pelosi had battled privately with Nadler over his handling of the Trump investigations. Nadler had unilaterally declared in July that he was conducting a formal impeachment investigation, overstepping Pelosi, who did not announce a formal impeachment inquiry until Sept. 24.
Nadler remained primarily out of the impeachment spotlight last week, and it is not clear whether he will have any official role in the impeachment inquiry Pelosi just sanctioned since it does not fall under the Judiciary Committee’s jurisdiction.
Democrats say they are pursuing impeachment over a charge Trump betrayed his office, undermined national security, and damaged the integrity of the next election by asking Zelensky to investigate a corruption charge related to his chief political rival, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden.
Trump released a memorandum of his July 25 conversation with Zelensky, as well as a redacted version of the whistleblower complaint, which alleges the White House tried to conceal a record of the call.
Both documents, Democrats say, make a crystal-clear case that Trump broke the law and attempted to cover it up.
“The actions taken by the president lifts this to a whole new terrain and a whole new level of concern in terms of his lawlessness,” Pelosi said.
In addition to the Intelligence and Judiciary Committees, four other panels have been investigating Trump over his tax returns, business dealings, and other matters.
Rep. Bill Pascrell of New Jersey, a top member of the Ways and Means Committee, which is pursuing Trump’s tax returns, said if the House votes on articles of impeachment, “don’t be surprised” to see charges relating to the other investigations.
“There’s a new focal point, yes,” Pascrell said. “But that doesn’t mean that other things are not going to be connected into this scandal.”
