House Majority Whip James Clyburn said Tuesday it would be a waste of time for Congress to pursue impeachment proceedings over President Trump’s weekend phone call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.
“With only 14 or 15 days left in this presidency, it would be a waste of our time here in the House to pursue impeachment,” Mr. Clyburn, South Carolina Democrat, said on CNN.
Mr. Clyburn said state or local officials could end up pursuing criminal charges against Mr. Trump after he leaves office.
“I would hope that would be pursued,” he said.
Some liberal House members have brought up the “I-word.” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, New York Democrat, said if it were up to her, there would be articles of impeachment on the floor quite quickly.
Rep. Ilhan Omar, Minnesota Democrat, said Monday that the calendar shouldn’t dictate the House’s actions.
“The Constitution does not make exceptions for the amount of time the president has left in office, or the popular support they have. And we cannot, either,” Ms. Omar said.
Instead, House Democrats introduced a resolution on Monday censuring and condemning Mr. Trump over the call and calling on him to acknowledge President-elect Joseph R. Biden as the winner of the 2020 election.
Mr. Trump had pressed Mr. Raffensperger to find the number of votes it would take for the president to overtake Mr. Biden in the state.
“There’s nothing wrong with saying, you know, that you’ve recalculated,” the president said in the hour-long call.
The Democratic-led House impeached Mr. Trump in December 2019, accusing him of strong-arming Ukraine into digging up dirt on Mr. Biden and his son Hunter. The GOP-led Senate acquitted the president in February 2020.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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