Rep. Eric Swalwell said Sunday that Democrats shouldn’t “lead with impeachment” but should pledge to carry out investigations Republicans are “unwilling” to conduct if they take back control of the House after the midterm elections.
“Democrats should not lead with impeachment,” Mr. Swalwell, California Democrat, said on ABC’s “This Week.” “I think we should lead with the core issues people care about — making sure that health care costs go down, that their paychecks go up, and that we scrub out corruption.”
Mr. Swalwell had been asked whether it would be a “high crime and misdemeanor” if President Trump did indeed conspire with former lawyer Michael Cohen to evade campaign finance laws by funneling money to women with whom the president is alleged to have had affairs.
“He’s not above the law, but I think that we don’t have enough evidence yet,” Mr. Swalwell.
Mr. Cohen pleaded guilty last week to eight felony counts, including campaign finance violations, and said he made the hush-money payments at the direction of a federal candidate, referring to Mr. Trump.
Mr. Trump said Mr. Cohen pleaded to two counts that weren’t even crimes and that they didn’t have to do with his campaign.
Mr. Swalwell did say that “we shouldn’t look the other way.”
“And the best thing we can do is promise the American people, if we are given the majority, that we will conduct the investigations the Republicans are unwilling to conduct,” he said.
Mr. Swalwell said a Democratic majority also would force the release of Mr. Trump’s tax returns, in addition to conducting probes into the campaign finance issues and questions surrounding any contact with Russian officials.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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