The vast majority of members of the House Democratic Caucus would support impeachment proceedings for President Donald Trump, but "just not now," House Majority Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C., said Wednesday.
"The issue now is whether or not that is something that should be done today or tomorrow, or whether or not we go through a process by which we build a foundation upon which to successfully impeach the president," Clyburn told CNN's "New Day." "We are all looking forward to the day when that might be ripened. We have not gotten there yet."
However, he said he does not know if proceedings are inevitable, but there have been many "successes," that have come from "steady, focused" movement toward getting facts.
Clyburn said he is closer to wanting to start an impeachment inquiry than he was a few weeks ago, but he is not quite ready to "pull the trigger on that."
He added he is not happy former White House lawyer Don McGahn and others have refused testimony before House committees, but "I do not want to rush to judgment on anything. I believe in going through the steps."
Clyburn said he would support charging fines to people who do not show up to testify, but he hoped that in a meeting with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that decision would not come up, but instead members would talk and then reassess how to move forward.
Further, Clyburn said he does not think it is essential that special counsel Robert Mueller testifies before Congress publicly, but he does think he should testify and that a public record is kept.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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