Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand Kirsten GillibrandSunday shows preview: Justice Ginsburg dies, sparking partisan battle over vacancy before election Suburban moms are going to decide the 2020 election Jon Stewart urges Congress to help veterans exposed to burn pits MORE (D-N.Y.) on Wednesday joined the chorus of Democratic presidential candidates calling for the House to begin impeachment proceedings against President Trump Donald John TrumpBiden on Trump's refusal to commit to peaceful transfer of power: 'What country are we in?' Romney: 'Unthinkable and unacceptable' to not commit to peaceful transition of power Two Louisville police officers shot amid Breonna Taylor grand jury protests MORE, saying that special counsel Robert Mueller Robert (Bob) MuellerCNN's Toobin warns McCabe is in 'perilous condition' with emboldened Trump CNN anchor rips Trump over Stone while evoking Clinton-Lynch tarmac meeting The Hill's 12:30 Report: New Hampshire fallout MORE made it clear that Congress should move forward with hearings on the president’s conduct.

“The White House has repeatedly stonewalled Congress' ability to take basic fact-finding steps and make an informed decision,” Gillibrand said in a statement. “Combined with the fact that Robert Mueller clearly expects Congress to exercise its constitutional authority and take steps that he could not, it's time for Republicans and Democrats to begin impeachment hearings and follow the facts wherever they may lead.”

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Gillibrand’s remarks came hours after Mueller said at a news conference at the Department of Justice (DOJ) that his office did not charge the president with a crime as a result of its two-year investigation, saying it was “not an option” under existing DOJ guidelines.

He also said that his team would have explicitly stated that Trump did not commit a crime if investigators had “confidence” that that was the case. Ultimately, the special counsel’s office did not uncover sufficient evidence to conclude that Trump’s campaign conspired with Russia to sway the 2016 presidential election, and declined to make a determination on whether the president sought to obstruct the probe.

But Mueller’s news conference marked a turning point for Gillibrand, who had previously sided with Democratic congressional leaders in saying that more investigating needed to be done before a determination on impeachment could be made.

“We cannot let this president defy basic accountability measures built into our Constitution,” she said Wednesday.

Gillibrand is the latest Democratic presidential hopeful to demand that the House move forward with impeachment hearings for Trump. Earlier on Wednesday, Sen. Cory Booker Cory Anthony BookerBipartisan praise pours in after Ginsburg's death DHS opens probe into allegations at Georgia ICE facility Democratic lawmakers call for an investigation into allegations of medical neglect at Georgia ICE facility MORE (D-N.J.) called for Congress to begin the process “immediately.”

Trump has seized on Mueller’s report released last month and this week's news conference to claim that he has been exonerated by the two-year probe. In fact, Mueller’s report stated that investigators could not clear Trump on the issue of whether he obstructed justice.

Still, Democratic presidential hopefuls have approached the issue of impeachment cautiously. While many left-leaning activists and progressives have called for Trump’s removal from office, some party leaders have warned that beginning the impeachment process could cause political blowback by energizing the president’s base heading into the 2020 election.