McCarthy warns Trump could be impeached if Democrats take the House

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy is warning that Democrats will make impeaching President Trump one of their priorities if they capture the House.

McCarthy, the California Republican who is vying to succeed Rep. Paul Ryan as speaker, raised the impeachment issue in a Sunday appearance on ‘Fox News,’ after a week that featured the conviction of Trump’s campaign manager, a guilty plea by his longtime lawyer Michael Cohen, and new revelations of key insiders cooperating with prosecutors. 

McCarthy brought up the push by some Democrats to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement, an issue Trump also highlights at his campaign rallies.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a California Republicans, is warning that Democrats will make impeaching President Trump one of their priorities if they capture the House.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (pictured far right) is warning that Democrats will make impeaching President Trump one of their priorities if they capture the House

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (pictured far right) is warning that Democrats will make impeaching President Trump one of their priorities if they capture the House

‘The other thing they want to do is impeach this president,’ McCarthy said. 

‘They voted on it twice already forced the vote to the floor. [Billionaire activist] Tom Steyer spent more than $30 million and he brags that his list is bigger than the NRA list on impeaching this president,’ McCarthy told host Maria Bartiromo on ‘Sunday Morning Futures.’

McCarthy would be minority leader if Democrats succeed in taking control. If the GOP hangs on, he will be challenged by Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio for the top post.

His statement comes after leaked document shows the raft of oversight investigations Republicans fear Democrats will jump-start – from probing Trump’s tax returns to the Constitution’s ’emoluments’ clause and Trump family members like son-in-law Jared Kushner, according to an Axios report.

Democrats hold an eight-point lead in a recent ‘generic’ congressional poll by NBC that asked whether respondents favored one party of the other. 

McCarthy’s statement is the latest instance of the GOP – rather than Democrats vying for control – to raise the impeachment issue.

House minority leader Nancy Pelosi cautioned last week against any rush to impeach based on the current state of the Mueller probe.

'It's not a priority on the agenda going forward unless something else comes forward,' House minority leader Nancy Pelosi said of impeachment

‘It’s not a priority on the agenda going forward unless something else comes forward,’ House minority leader Nancy Pelosi said of impeachment

Tom Steyer, co-founder of NextGen Climate Action Committee, cut a new video urging people to join his drive for impeachment following the stunning courtroom developments. McCarthy pointed to Steyer's impeachment campaign

Tom Steyer, co-founder of NextGen Climate Action Committee, cut a new video urging people to join his drive for impeachment following the stunning courtroom developments. McCarthy pointed to Steyer’s impeachment campaign

‘Impeachment has to spring from something else,’ she said, hours after longtime Trump lawyer Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to eight charges and a Virginia jury found former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort guilty of eight charges.

Pelosi, who would stand for speaker if Democrats retake the House but is facing pushback from some Democratic candidates, would oversee any impeachment that gets put forward. 

On Wednesday it was the White House that elevated the issue when press secretary Sarah Sanders teed off on on Democrats, faulting them for a ‘sad attempt’ at ‘cheap political stunts.’

‘The idea of an impeachment is frankly a sad attempt by Democrats,’ she said. ‘It’s the only message they seem to have going into the midterms.’ 

The Michael Cohen plea immediately ignited questions about impeachment. Justice Department rules state that a sitting president cannot be indicted

The Michael Cohen plea immediately ignited questions about impeachment. Justice Department rules state that a sitting president cannot be indicted

McCarthy on Sunday listed impeachment alongside immigration and health care. 

‘First they are very clear they want to abolish ICE. So those MS-13 members that come across, those kids that have been trafficked that get stopped that ICE saves or what about the fentanyl that ICE saves in the process 167 voted present in the process,’ he said. Host Maria Bartiromo responded: ”Wow.’

Although some Democrats wand to abolish the agency linked to the Trump administration’s child separation policy, they aren’t in favor of stopping law enforcement at the border. 

McCarthy continued: ‘And the last thing they want to do single payer healthcare, so 55% of Americans have healthcare through their employer. That would end, but the scary thing of this those who are on Medicare, you will end because they will bankrupt it before and put everybody into it and bankrupt Medicare,’ he said.

Former Virginia Republican Rep. Tom Davis, asked whether it now makes sense for Democrats to start talking about impeachment, told DailyMail.com after the Cohen plea and Manafort conviction: ”Not yet. It certainly lays a predicate.’

Democrats ‘have to ask themselves if this is 1998, where Republicans overplayed impeachment and lost seats, or 1974, where anger over Nixon and the pardon led to huge gains,’ said Davis, who previously ran the GOP House campaign arm and now runs government affairs at Deloitte.

‘The ominous weeks will tell, but Nancy Pelosi navigated 2006 successfully to lead to a House turnover and she knows if and when to pull the trigger. There is still a lot to play out and it’s August. Remember Access Hollywood?’ he concluded.

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk