Dems don't want to talk

With House majority at stake, Dems don't want to talk about impeaching Trump

'It has yet to be proven that this will help us win the majority,' says one Democratic leadership aide.

By RACHAEL BADE and JOHN BRESNAHAN

As Michael Cohen, Donald Trump's former personal lawyer, was pleading guilty in a federal court to campaign charges implicating the president, House Democratic leaders were on a conference call warning rank-and-file lawmakers: Don't use the word "impeachment."

Speaking to members back home in their districts, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s leadership team Tuesday cautioned lawmakers to frame Cohen's plea deal as further evidence of a corrupt administration that needs a Democratic check in Congress, they said. Or, play up Hill Republicans’ apathy in the face of Trump’s endless scandals, they encouraged.

But be wary of impeachment, they insisted — it could backfire.

With 76 days to go until the midterm elections, Democratic leaders are adamant that they will not turn Nov. 6 into a litmus test for impeachment — even though Cohen accused Trump of directing him to break campaign-finance laws to win the presidency. Party leaders believe that’s the wrong hill to die on and the issue won’t register with voters. And most rank-and-file Democrats in both chambers are following that advice.

“Everybody wants to jump to the end of the analysis, which is impeachment, but I think we’ve got to take it step by step here,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), a former law professor who sits on the House Judiciary Committee. “I know all of the questions of impeachment are fascinating to the media, but we’re working full-time just to try to put the Democrats back on the scoreboard of national politics.”

A House Democrat close with leadership put it bluntly: “The voters don’t want to talk about impeachment right now. … You don’t want to poke the bear in a way that he’s able to come back even stronger.”

The decision to tread lightly on the matter shows just how wary Democrats are of overplaying their hand. Many believe that Democrats have more than enough material to successfully impeach Trump, should they take the House — and privately, many Democrats think they would eventually do so if they seize the majority.

However, Democrats don’t want to make Trump seem sympathetic, especially before the midterm elections when they feel they’re very likely to win back the House for the first time in eight years. They also want to wait until special counsel Robert Mueller issues his report on any Russia collusion or obstruction of justice, which they believe will do nothing but bolster their case.

But Republicans paid a political price for impeaching then-President Bill Clinton for lying under oath about a sexual relationship with Monica Lewinsky. And House Democrats don’t want to make the same mistake this fall.

"It has yet to be proven that this will help us win the majority," said a Democratic leadership aide of focusing on Trump's potential impeachment. "If that changes, the conversation will change. But we still have to win an election to do anything."

Republicans, meanwhile, are almost daring Democrats to make the issue a central campaign matter in the 2018 midterms. Impeachment talks will only turn out Republican voters, many conservatives believe, and could help them keep their majorities in Congress.

“I presume that’s what the Democrats will make the midterm elections about, which is impeaching the president and that will be the reason to gain their majority in the House,” said Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas.)

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said Wednesday that impeachment is “the only message [Democrats] have going into the midterms” and should be prime reason voters keep Republicans in power: “I think that the biggest contrast you could possibly make is the message of the Democrats, which is nothing more than attacking the president and looking at cheap political stunts while this White House and Republicans in the House and Senate are focused on doing good things for the American people."

Stifling impeachment talks might seem a counter-intuitive strategy to some. Last December, about a third of the House Democratic Caucus voted to essentially begin debate on whether to impeach Trump, citing Trump actions they felt demeaned the office of the presidency. Now, Democrats have an actual allegation of a crime committed by the president — one lobbed by none other than the man who’s been called Trump’s “fixer” for years.

Still, they’re holding back. In an interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday, Pelosi was noncommittal about the matter, arguing that while Democrats would conduct proper oversight over the Trump administration if they take the House, “it’s not a priority on the agenda going forward unless something else comes forward.” In a Wednesday afternoon letter to Democrats, she argued that the party should stay focused on their economic message and fighting Republican corruption.

Likewise, House Judiciary Committee Ranking Democrat Jerry Nadler said nothing of impeachment in a more than 375-word statement on Cohen and former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort’s conviction Tuesday. Instead, the New York Democrat called on Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) to “hold immediate hearings on President Trump’s persistent, venomous attacks on the Department of Justice and the FBI” and pass legislation protecting Mueller’s investigation.

In a Wednesday interview, moderate Democrat Rep. Cheri Bustos of Illinois made the case for holding back on impeachment talk for now, allowing investigations to first run their course. Most Republicans who support Trump “don’t see him as corrupt,” she argued. “And many of us are running in districts that Donald Trump won, so I think how we characterize this is very, very important,” she added.

“I wouldn’t advise any Democrats who are running in the heartland to be talking in those terms,” Bustos continued. “I think the way we need to look at this is: We have some absolutely amazing Democrats running in these tough swing districts throughout the Midwest and the country. ... and we [should] talk about how the Washington Republicans have rubber-stamped this corruption."

Even progressives eyeing 2020 presidential bids seem to agree. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) twice dodged questions on CNN Wednesday morning about whether she would support impeachment. It’s too early to talk about that, she argued.

Of course, more progressive Democrats will disagree. Grass-roots activists and some big-money Democratic donors like environmentalist Tom Steyer have been urging Pelosi to make impeachment more of a campaign focus. Rep. Al Green of Texas, who introduced the first impeachment resolution that failed in the House last year, said lawmakers have a constitutional obligation to consider impeachment and that he might force a vote in the future if the matter doesn’t surface organically.

“There is a desire [by some Democrats] to make sure you don’t excite one base at the expense of not exciting another base. I really don’t think that ought to be the acid test,” Green said. “The acid test ought to relate to the moral imperative of protecting the country from an unfit president who perpetrates almost on a daily basis.”

For now, Green appears to be in the minority. The Democratic strategy, as dictated by Pelosi’s leadership team in the Tuesday afternoon call, is to: stick to pocketbook issues favored by voters, including health care; don’t hesitate to highlight corruption; and ding Republicans for doing nothing to counter the president.

Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) took that approach Wednesday, arguing that House Judiciary Committee Republicans should immediately convene hearings to determine whether Trump committed a felony by allegedly directing Cohen to pay off Stormy Daniels.

"This is serious stuff and for the Republicans to continue to ignore the facts before their eyes is a complete abdication of their constitutional duties," he said.

Lieu stopped short of demanding impeachment proceedings.

Still, there’s a sense among even those not willing to call for impeachment now that it’s only a matter of time before Congress moves in that direction. Even Raskin, who said it was premature to touch the subject, said, “Bill Clinton was impeached for telling one lie about sex” — and suggested Trump’s crime is much worse.

“[E]very fair-minded member of Congress on both sides of the aisle would recognize deliberate violations of federal campaign-finance law to channel hundreds of thousands of dollars into a federal election as potentially ‘high crime,’” he said.