House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff declined to say Tuesday whether or not he supports impeaching President Donald Trump and his subsequent removal from office by the Senate.
Schiff, taking questions from reporters on the Intelligence Committee’s just-submitted report on the Trump-Ukraine Impeachment Inquiry, told CNN’s Manu Raju that he is “going to reserve any kind of a public judgment on that until I have a chance to consult with my colleagues, with our leadership and I think this really needs to be a decision that we all make as a body.” (RELATED: Read The Entire House Intelligence Impeachment Report)
“I’m going to continue to reserve judgment, but as you can tell, I am gravely concerned that if we merely accept this that we invite not only further corruption of our elections by this president, but we also invite it of the next president,” he continued. “I’m keenly aware of the significance of the precedent we set in whatever direction we move. I’m also very strongly guided by the fact that one of the seminal moments in this scheme took place the day after Bob Mueller testified, the day after Donald Trump thought that the last investigation was over, he began the next significant step in a new course of misconduct.”
Schiff also failed to give a direct answer when asked if the case for impeachment “would be stronger” if given more time to conduct further investigations.
“I think what we have produced in remarkable short order is so overwhelming that it ought to be presented to the Judiciary Committee now without any further delay,” he stated. “If we do uncover additional evidence, and we learn more every day, we will feel free to file supplemental reports to the Judiciary Committee.”
“I think there’s grave risk to the country with waiting until we have every last fact when we know enough about his misconduct to make a responsible judgment about whether we think that he is compatible with the office of the presidency.” (RELATED: Swalwell Changes Tune On Impeachment)
Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee released an accompanying report on the impeachment inquiry Tuesday, in which they called the proceedings “an orchestrated campaign to upend our political system.” (RELATED: Here Is The Republican Report On The Impeachment Inquiry)
The House Judiciary Committee will hold a Wednesday hearing in order to define the articles of impeachment against Trump.