Politics

Dem House Judiciary Rep Declares Unseating Trump Is His ‘Sole Focus’

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Rachel Stoltzfoos Staff Reporter
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Democratic Rep. Cedric Richmond said unseating President Donald Trump is his “sole focus” on CBS’s “Face the Nation” Sunday, and that he would support a move to impeach him.

“My sole focus right now is to make sure that he’s not the president next term,” Richmond said, elaborating on his affirmative response to a question about whether he thinks impeachment should be on the table. “And what we do this term, we need to, one, learn from the facts what Russia did, make sure that the president has not obstructed justice, but more importantly, we need to make sure that he does not win reelection.”

WATCH:

“Face the Nation” host Margaret Brennan asked Richmond to clarify his “sole focus” comment. “And to be clear, you support impeachment now,” she said.

“Well, it’s chairman Nadler’s decision how far we go with impeachment,” he replied. “I would just tell you I’m comfortable going either way.”

Richmond sits on the House Judiciary Committee, which is working to get Attorney General William Barr to testify before the committee regarding the Mueller report on Trump and Russia. Barr initially offered to testify, but is now saying he will refuse because he is unhappy with the terms laid out by the committee chair, Democratic Rep. Jerrold Nadler.

Democrats want Barr to agree to the possibility of extended questioning in the hearing, including by committee lawyers, and to agree to further questioning in a closed door session. The Justice Department said that’s a no go.

A spokesperson for Judiciary Committee Republicans told The Washington Post: “The attorney general isn’t a fact witness, and this committee’s investigations — as Democrat leadership reminds us daily — don’t constitute impeachment, so Democrats have yet to prove their demands are anything but abusive and illogical in light of the transparency and good faith the attorney general has shown our committee.”

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