Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) said on Thursday President Trump could still be prosecuted at a later date for possible "multiple crimes" that he has committed.
"The Republicans seem to be suggesting that there needs to be a statutory crime and prosecution before there’s a constitutional crime and impeachment. And of course, that is not at all the intent of the Framers and that’s not what’s happened before. Bill Clinton had not been prosecuted before. Richard Nixon hadn’t been prosecuted before," Raskin told CNN's Wolf Blitzer.
"The Constitution in Article II talks about treason, bribery, and other high crimes and misdemeanors, and both sides have always understood that abuse of power is an offense against the Constitution, as well as obstruction of Congress," he continued.
Blitzer said Republicans had impeached former President Bill Clinton for lying under oath to a federal grand jury. Blitzer then Raskin asked if believed Trump had not actually committed a crime.
"Well, no, there was, perhaps multiple crimes committed by this president," Raskin replied. "Bill Clinton had not been prosecuted or indicted for perjury. They just pled the elements of perjury in the article of impeachment. We’ve pled within our impeachment and in the accompanying report lots of factual evidence that could lead to prosecution of the president later."
The House Judiciary Committee passed the two articles of impeachment, abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, along party lines last week. The full House is expected to vote on the articles on Wednesday.
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