Congressman Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) is raising questions after former special counsel Robert Mueller's testimony this week about his report on Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Lieu says Mueller appeared to give conflicting answers Wednesday about the ability to indict a sitting president, indicating in the first hearing that it could not be done, then rolling that back in the second hearing of the day.
"I found that very odd," Lieu told Cheddar on Friday. "He understood that what he said to me — that he refused to backtrack to the Republican member who followed me — was that Donald Trump committed the crime of obstruction of justice."
Lieu says he thinks Mueller walked back his comments because he didn't want to appear to say he believed the president was guilty of a crime.
Lieu's comments come amid growing pressure from some Democrats to begin an impeachment inquiry, a move that Speaker Nancy Pelosi still says is premature. But Lieu said that support is growing, pointing to five more members of his party who have come to support impeachment proceedings since Mueller's testimony.
"You can't watch these hearings and not conclude three things: that the Russians systematically attacked us in 2016 in our elections in a sweeping manner. Second, that the Trump campaign embraced this attack, used information from it, gave Russians internal polling, and knew it was going to help Donald Trump. And then third, the president committed multiple acts of obstruction of justice, which are felonies, to try to stop the investigation into the Russians."
But other representatives have said the only way Democrats will remove Trump is at the ballot box.
"We do need to be realistic, and that is, the only way he's leaving office, at least at this point, is by being voted out," said Rep. Adam Schiff on Thursday.
Lieu isn't deterred. "When the Nixon impeachment process started, 19 percent of the American people supported it. After a few months of hearings the American people decided Nixon was a crook, and then he eventually resigned," said the representative.
He also called Attorney General William Barr's announcement that he will revitalize federal capital punishment an effort by the Trump administration to "distract" from a bad week for the president.
As the U.S. continues to face supply chain shortages, President Joe Biden is reassuring U.S. consumers that the supply chain is in "very strong shape" ahead of the all-important holiday season. As supply bottlenecks start to show signs of improvement, the industry may be faced with yet another challenge: the Omicron variant. Rob Caucci, Co-Founder & Co-CEO of Fillogic joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
Markets rebounded Monday morning after Friday's deep sell-off that saw the Dow suffer its worse day since 2020. It comes as investors continue to react to the impact of the omicron variant on the broader reopening. Eddie Ghabour, Co-Owner at the Key Advisors Group joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
Markets bounced back this morning with travel leading the gains after plunging on Monday as the first case of Omicron was detected in the U.S. Jimmy Lee, CEO, Wealth Consulting Group joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
The market saw investors react to comments by the World Health Organization's chief scientist, who suggested existing vaccines are likely to offer protection against the new variant. According to Thomas Hayes, chairman of Great Hill Capital, the next two weeks will be crucial as the markets watch for not only the effects of the Omicron variant, but also the Fed's decision on a taper.
It's Friday at long last. Jill and Carlo cover the latest on Omicron, including a possible superspreader event in NYC. Plus, previewing the November jobs report, a new Zoom feature no one asked for, and when it's no longer a good idea to eat Thanksgiving leftovers.
Following the Mississippi abortion case, the fate of Roe V. Wade is at stake. A decision is expected next summer, right around the time midterm candidates will be making their cases to voters. Laura Packard, executive director of Health Care Voter, joins Cheddar News to discuss how the ruling will impact upcoming elections.
Stock markets around the world continue to be impacted by fears of the new Omicron COVID-19 variant. President Biden today reiterated his stance that the new strain is cause for concern, but not cause for panic. Wells Fargo Investment Institute Global Equity Strategist Scott Wren joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Jill and Carlo discuss what appears to be the beginning of the end of Roe v. Wade, another victim dies following the school shooting in Michigan, Omicron in the U.S., Trump's Covid chronology and more.
