Judiciary chairman to request documents from dozens close to White House

By Kyle Balluck - 03/03/19 09:28 AM EST
 

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) said on Sunday that his panel will request documents from dozens of entities and individuals close to the White House as part of his panel’s investigation into “obstruction of justice, corruption and abuse of power.”

“Tomorrow, we will be issuing document requests to over 60 different people and individuals from the White House to the Department of Justice, Donald Trump Jr.Donald (Don) John TrumpThe Hill's Morning Report — Schiff: Clear evidence of a quid pro quo RNC bought nearly 0,000 worth of copies of Trump Jr.'s new book: report Swalwell on flatulence allegation: Total exoneration MORE, Allen Weisselberg, to begin the investigations to present the case to the American people about obstruction of justice, corruption and abuse of power,” Nadler said on ABC’s “This Week.”

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Nadler said during the interview that he thinks President TrumpDonald John TrumpApple CEO Tim Cook promises to fight for DACA, user privacy DOJ urges Supreme Court to side with Trump in ongoing legal battle over tax returns Giuliani associate willing to inform Congress of meeting between Nunes and former Ukrainian official: report MORE obstructed justice.

"It's very clear that the president obstructed justice," he said.

"It’s very clear — 1,100 times he referred to [special counsel Robert MuellerRobert (Bob) Swan MuellerTrump says he'll release financial records before election, knocks Dems' efforts House impeachment hearings: The witch hunt continues Speier says impeachment inquiry shows 'very strong case of bribery' by Trump MORE's] investigation as a witch hunt ... he tried to protect [former national security adviser Michael] Flynn from being investigated by the FBI. He fired [former FBI Director James] Comey in order to stop the 'Russian thing,' as he told NBC News. ... He’s intimidated witnesses. In public."

"How about if Robert Mueller comes back and says definitively, we find no collusion by President Trump? Is that a conclusion you'll accept?" host George Stephanopoulos asked the New York Democrat.

"Well we’d want to see the evidence behind that and see the validity of that and we can agree to disagree. But this investigation goes far beyond collusion. We’ve seen all the democratic norms that we depend on for democratic government attacked by the administration," Nadler responded.

"We’ve seen attacks on the freedom of the press, the press called the enemy of the people, we’ve seen attacks on the Department of Justice, attacks on the FBI, attacks on — on judges. All of these are very corrosive to liberty and to the proper functioning of government and to our constitutional system," he added.

"All this has to be looked at and the facts laid out to the American people."

Nadler also said that the evidence has not been "all sorted out" to "do an impeachment."

"Before you impeach somebody, you have to persuade the American public that it ought to happen," he added. 

Nadler said impeachment is a "very high bar," adding that Democrats "may or may not get there."

"But what we have to do is protect the rule of law," he said.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthyKevin Owen McCarthyThe Hill's Morning Report — Schiff: Clear evidence of a quid pro quo On The Money: Trump signs short-term spending bill to avoid shutdown | Pelosi casts doubt on USMCA deal in 2019 | California high court strikes down law targeting Trump tax returns McCarthy blasts Pelosi on USMCA MORE (R-Calif.) said later on the ABC show that he thinks Nadler "decided to impeach the president the day the president won the election."

— This report was updated at 10:11 a.m.

Tags Donald Trump Jr. Kevin McCarthy Robert Mueller Jerry Nadler Donald Trump