Rep. Jerrold Nadler warned Monday that a “partisan impeachment” against President Trump could wind up destroying the country if there’s not enough evidence to convince Republicans.
“You have to be reluctant to do an impeachment,” Mr. Nadler said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
As the New York Democrat set to take the helm of the House Judiciary Committee, Mr. Nadler said his party has to be sure they have Republicans willing to impeach the president and that it is objectively clear the offenses merit such a drastic measure.
He laid out a three-pronged test that must be met before proceeding with an impeachment process, which starts with determining if the president committed any impeachable offenses. If so, lawmakers must consider if they “rise to the gravity where it’s worth putting the country through the trauma of an impeachment proceeding.”
The last step is to be sure that the evidence will be more than enough to convince “a good fraction of the opposition” that it’s a necessary step.
“You don’t want half the country to say to the other half for the next 30 years, ’We won the election. You stole it from us,’ ” Mr. Nadler said.
Mr. Nadler said Democrats will have to go through that process should any evidence come from the Mueller probe that shows Mr. Trump committed an impeachable offense.
• Gabriella Muñoz can be reached at gmunoz@washingtontimes.com.
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