The US media has continued to narrate about alleged ties between the Trump campaign and Russia and exploring the claims that Russia may have influenced the 2016 presidential election despite a complete lack of evidence.
"President Trump is not above the law. He has committed an impeachable act and must be charged," Green stated.
The "act" he refers to is the obstruction of a lawful investigation of the President's campaign ties to Russia during his 2016 presidential election. Impeachment is the process whereby the legislature formally levels charges against the president.
"I think it's totally ridiculous." —Pres. Trump shoots down claim that he's done anything worthy of impeachment pic.twitter.com/H1PuSZylcZ
— FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) 19 мая 2017 г.
Russian officials have repeatedly denied charges of interfering in the US election, saying the allegations are absurd and represent an attempt to divert the US public’s attention away from pressing domestic issues.
In another development this week, US Congressman Justin Amash is the first Republican to have mentioned, during an interview, the possibility of impeaching President Trump.
Rep. Al Green (D-TX) on the House floor calls for President Trump to be impeached pic.twitter.com/yi1oPizkyI
— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) 17 мая 2017 г.
Amash was asked by The Hill if the details in the memorandum written by former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director James Comey were true, and if it merited impeachment, and Amash said, "Yes."
"But everybody gets a fair trial in this country," he added, referring to the United States.
The US media has reported on the existence of a memorandum, written by Comey after a meeting with Trump in February, allegedly stating the US President asked Comey to drop the investigation into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and his ties to Russia.
Adding fuel to the fire was Trump's meeting on May 10 with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak in the Oval Office, during which Trump reportedly shared highly-classified intelligence from Israel about the terrorist group Daesh (ISIL/ISIS).
On Thursday, media reports said that the US Department of Justice appointed former FBI director Robert Mueller as special counsel to oversee the investigation into the alleged ties between the Trump team and the Russian officials.
Online betting odds increase over whether Trump will be impeached https://t.co/KAnuYIXlGp pic.twitter.com/TJzBKauONl
— The Hill (@thehill) 19 мая 2017 г.
In this vein, the Russian online newspaper Gazeta.ru quoted St. Petersburg-based expert on the US Ivan Kurilla as saying that in 1998, a special prosecutor was also appointed to investigate then-US President Bill Clinton's abuse-of-power.
Kurilla recalled that the US President's impeachment never took place at the time because although "the vote was purely partisan which is why there were no prospects."
As far as Trump is concerned, "he is unlikely to face the impeachment process" as well, according to Kurilla.
Liberals are Calling for President Trump's Impeachment~Trump Was So Worried about this that he & Milania Were Dancing With Middle East King👌 pic.twitter.com/1Uxvv2I5Zf
— 🇺🇸Max🛡Steel (@MaxSteel747) 21 мая 2017 г.
He pointed to "a lot of insignificant compromising material [related to Trump], for which no one can be held accountable."
In general, a stable, negative stance towards Trump is being nevertheless maintained in the United States, according to Kurilla.
Trump Impeachment Talk Started Before He Was Even Nominated https://t.co/HhZ8OjlY4r pic.twitter.com/rk8zYSJB0C
— The Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) 21 мая 2017 г.
Sergey Oznobishchev, deputy head of the Moscow-based Institute of Strategic Assessments, said, for his part, that the only way to start an impeachment process against Trump is to try to prove that he provided secret information to Russia.
"With Trump already being called the most unpopular president in US history, the impeachment procedure stipulates providing concrete evidence, such as revealing [state] secrets to Russia. It will be necessary to prove that some formal instructions have been violated, something that will prove a tricky task," Oznobishchev was quoted by Gazeta.ru as saying.
According to a survey by Public Policy Polling released on Tuesday, some 48 percent of US voters believe that Trump should be impeached, for the first time exceeding those who oppose the idea.
Under the US Constitution, the President can be subjected to impeachment for treason, bribery or serious abuse of power.
Due to be initiated by the House of Representatives, an impeachment procedure is supposed to be approved by a two-thirds vote in the Senate.
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