Rep. Eric Swalwell, California Democrat, called Friday for prosecutors to investigate President Trump’s actions in office after his administration comes to an end.
Mr. Swalwell, who previously sought the Democratic nod to challenge Mr. Trump this November, proposed the idea amid growing concerns about the status of the U.S. Postal Service.
“I don’t say this lightly: when we escape this Trump hell, America needs a Presidential Crimes Commission,” Mr. Swalwell said on Twitter.
“It should be made up of independent prosecutors who look at those who enabled a corrupt president,” Mr. Swalwell added. “Example 1: Sabotaging the mail to win an election.”
Mr. Trump indicated during a Fox Business Network interview the previous morning that he opposes funding for USPS because it would enable more voters to cast ballots by mail this November.
“They want $3.5 billion for the mail-in votes. Universal mail-in ballots. They want $25 billion, billion, for the Post Office. Now they need that money in order to make the Post Office work so it can take all of these millions and millions of ballots,” Mr. Trump said Thursday.
“But if they don’t get those two items that means you can’t have universal mail-in voting because they’re not equipped to have it,” Mr. Trump added.
Indeed, Democrats have unsuccessfully sought extra funding for USPS to address the surge of mail-in ballots expected to be cast this election season amid the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic.
Mr. Trump has claimed without evidence that more people voting by mail will result in a “rigged” election, however, and has encouraged people to vote in-person.
“I want them to vote. But that would mean that they’d have to go to a voting booth, like they used to, and vote,” Mr. Trump said earlier this week.
Mr. Swalwell, 39, has represented California’s 15th congressional district since 2013. He announced his campaign for the Democratic nomination last April but ended it soon after.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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