Trump pushes back on impeachment: "There were no crimes by me"
President Trump said Monday that he could not be impeached by Congress because he had not committed any crimes.
"Only high crimes and misdemeanors can lead to impeachment," Mr. Trump tweeted Monday morning. "There were no crimes by me (No Collusion, No Obstruction), so you can't impeach. It was the Democrats that committed the crimes, not your Republican President! Tables are finally turning on the Witch Hunt!"
As outlined in his recently-released report, Mueller was unable to prove that any of Mr. Trump's associates conspired with the Russian government to influence the 2016 election. The report, however, was less conclusive on the issue of obstruction, essentially punting the issue to Congress.
Some Democrats have been pushing impeachment since the Justice Department released a redacted version of the report last week. On Friday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren became the first Democratic presidential candidate to directly call for Mr. Trump's impeachment.
"The severity of this misconduct demands that elected officials in both parties set aside political considerations and do their constitutional duty. That means the House should initiate impeachment proceedings against the President of the United States," the Massachusetts senator wrote on Twitter.
Many other top Democrats, including House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, have shied away from the issue of impeachment.
"Based on what we have seen to date, going forward on impeachment is not worthwhile at this point," Hoyer, a Maryland Democrat, told CNN after the release of Mueller' report. "Very frankly, there is an election in 18 months and the American people will make a judgment."
Although two presidents have been impeached -- Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1999 -- both were acquitted by the Senate and completed their respective terms in office. In 1974, President Richard Nixon resigned from office to avoid being impeached over the Watergate scandal.
