California Congressman and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff appeared on ABC’s This Week Sunday morning and blamed the Republican-controlled Senate for the House not going ahead with impeachment proceedings.
“One party—the Republican Party—has turned itself into a cult of the president’s personality and is not likely to act consistent with its constitutional obligations,” the chairman told host George Stephanopolous.
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff on impeachment: "One party – the Republican Party has turned itself into a cult of the president's personality and is not likely to act consist with its constitutional obligations" https://t.co/1KA7z13fgZ pic.twitter.com/bZ6a673Fd5
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) June 2, 2019
Schiff added, “I think we’re going to do what’s right for the country and at this point, the speaker [Nancy Pelosi] hasn’t reached the conclusion and I haven’t had either. It’s not best for the country to put us through an impeachment proceeding that’s destined for a failure in the Senate.”
Schiff did leave himself some wiggle room on the topic by adding, “That calculus may change if the president continues to demonstrate his unfitness for office.”
Schiff seems in lockstep with Speaker Pelosi on impeachment, looking to, as the speaker said this weekend, “build an ironclad case to act.”
However, impeachment hearings seem to be inevitable at this point. With more and more Democratic presidential candidates and an escalating number of House members already aboard, blaming those on the other side of the isle or citing them as excuse not to act may not be a sustainable strategy.