Dem Rep Waters: Trump ‘Investigation’ Underway; Evidence Not Required for Impeachment
Monday on CNN’s “Newsroom,” when asked about her comments last week stating that her “greatest desire” would be to impeach President Donald Trump, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) said investigations had “already started” and that some of the investigation leads to the “possibility of impeachment.”
Partial transcript as follows:
BALDWIN: You are making news today saying Donald Trump’s actions are leading himself to possible impeachment. Explain to me why you are going there two weeks into his presidency.
WATERS: First of all, just let me say these are not normal times. We have a president who is creating chaos and division. So many questions about his conflict of interest. Lies about whether or not he separated himself from the businesses he claimed he would separate himself from. Not showing his tax returns. Putting his arms around Putin, defending Putin, working with the Kremlin. I want to know, and a lot of people want to know was there collusion between Putin and the Kremlin and this president as they hacked our DNC and our DCCC and some of us. We want to know how deep does that go.
BALDWIN: Congresswoman, what’s the evidence. forgive me for jumping in, but what is the evidence that would lead to impeachment here?
WATERS: That’s what I’m telling you. We have investigations that have already started. There is an investigation in the Senate Intelligence yes, in the House you have investigations going on in several places in several ways. This man is questionable. and what I’m saying is, because we are suspicious, many of us about who he is, where he came from, what his actions are and all of his conflicts and this business of loving Putin and the Kremlin so much, we have to find out more about him. And some of that I think leads to the possibility of impeachment. And I think that’s legitimate to say given everything we know at this point.
BALDWIN: I understand on the investigation. But you know, you do have to find evidence before using such a huge word, such a tremendous word as the I word, the I in impeachment.
WATERS: No, no, no. no, no, no. Let me tell you what you are saying is this. You are saying that you don’t ordinarily hear members of Congress who would do what I’m doing, who began to talk about impeachment because they would fear that perhaps they were not going to get the information other people would think they are acting too hastily.
BALDWIN: Two weeks, congresswoman. The man has been in the Oval Office two weeks.
WATERS: It doesn’t matter how long it is. Do you know anybody that said on television yesterday that and said that Putin was a great leader. When he was asked about him being a killer he said so what. There are other killers, and said that there were killers in the United States. Don’t you think that’s unusual?
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN