Bill Clinton weighs in on how impeachment could affect Trump White House
Former President Bill Clinton on Thursday rejected the White House’s assertion that it’s unable to work with Democrats in Congress on legislative priorities in the midst of impeachment proceedings, dismissing such claims as an “excuse.”
The former president phoned in to CNN to weigh in on a high school shooting in Santa Clarita, Calif., as he traveled to Washington to receive an award from the Brady Center for his work on gun control. Clinton used the opportunity to urge action on gun control, which appeared to have some momentum after a pair of mass shootings in August but has since stalled.
But he was also asked to share his unique perspective about working with Congress during an impeachment inquiry, as the only living president to have been impeached.
Anchor Jake Tapper pointed out that earlier this week, Attorney General William Barr said the Trump administration had not abandoned its plan to introduce gun control proposals. Barr said such a legislative package has not materialized because it was “sidetracked because of the impeachment process on the Hill.”
But Clinton refuted that justification, noting that his administration had a number of legislative, regulatory and diplomatic accomplishments even as he was facing impeachment.
“Well, my answer is, look at how much we got done in 1998 to 1999. And even in ’97. We had very productive actions in all three years,” Clinton said, pointing to a pair of government shutdowns in 1995 and 1996 after Republicans made gains in the midterms as “the only really tough year.”
The House voted in December 1998 to impeach Clinton on charges of obstruction of justice and perjury, but he was acquitted by a Democratic Senate on both charges in 1999, similar to the fate Trump is expected to face should the House decide to bring articles of impeachment against him.
But “once the public made a judgment on what they thought should be done” about impeachment, he added, “I just kept working with them. That’s just an excuse.”
Tapper then asked whether Clinton, whose wife, Hillary, was Trump’s 2016 opponent, had a message for Trump.
“My message was — would be: Look, you got hired to do a job. You don’t get to — every day’s an opportunity to make something good happen,” Clinton replied. “And I would say ‘I’ve got lawyers and staff people handling this impeachment inquiry and they should just have at it. Meanwhile, I’m going to work for the American people.’ That’s what I would do.”
Trump has repeatedly railed against the House impeachment proceedings, deriding the process as a “sham” and a “witch hunt” and accusing Democrats of attempting to reverse the results of the 2016 election. He stands accused of leveraging military aid to Ukraine that had already been appropriated by Congress and deemed necessary by national security officials in an attempt to pressure the government in Kyiv to launch investigations of his political opponents.
Trump has denied any wrongdoing, urging Democrats to drop the inquiry and work with him on approving the USMCA trade deal, a plan to lower prescription drug costs and a blueprint on infrastructure improvements. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has argued lawmakers can do both simultaneously.
