Members of San Antonio’s congressional delegation are weighing in on Robert Mueller’s news conference Wednesday on alleged White House obstruction into his probe of Russian interference of U.S. elections.
Mueller pointed out his report did not clear the president of wrongdoing, and if he were called to testify before Congress he would not reveal anything that is not already in the report.
Mueller also announced his investigation is closed and he is resigning as a special prosecutor appointed to look into the allegations against the White House by the U.S. Justice Department.
San Antonio Democrat U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro believes Mueller’s news conference was a nudge to congress to investigate President Trump’s administration.
“I do think it was an implicit referral to the United States Congress to take action on behalf of the country,” Castro said.
Mueller simply referred his findings to Attorney General Barr who said he found no evidence beyond reasonable doubt of obstruction. Some congressmen, including Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI), accused Barr of deliberately misinterpreting Mueller’s findings to aid the White House’s false narrative about the investigation.
San Antonio Republican U.S. Rep. Will Hurd said Castro’s fellow Democrat, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, opposes impeachment.
“Nancy Pelosi has made it very clear it is a political process and not something she thinks we should be going forward with,” he said.
Some Democrats fear impeachment proceedings could backfire on them, especially if the House were to vote in favor only for the Senate to vote against it.
They claim President Trump could use such a vote to maintain his innocence just as the November 2020 elections take place.
“It is true there may be political risks for Democrats as a party by going through with impeachment, but we can’t be sure of that because almost half the country actually wants Congress to undertake impeachment proceedings,” Castro said.
Hurd said he would be in favor for Mueller testify before Congress.
“I want Bob Mueller to come to Congress to explain some of the things that he did and outlined and what maybe some inconsistencies between him and the Attorney General,” he said. “I think that is the next step for us to clearly understand what he was thinking.”
Hurd was in San Antonio on Wednesday for three stops. He cut the ribbon on the new San Antonio Autism Center on Nacogdoches Road before heading downtown for speeches to the South San Antonio Chamber of Commerce at a pro-USMCA trade agreement rally of Farmers for Free Trade and the Texas Farm Bureau.
Brian Kirkpatrick can be reached at Brian@TPR.org and on Twitter at @TPRBrian.
