South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg Pete ButtigiegBillionaire who donated to Trump in 2016 donates to Biden The Hill's Morning Report - Sponsored by Facebook - GOP closes ranks to fill SCOTUS vacancy by November Buttigieg stands in as Pence for Harris's debate practice MORE (D) said in an interview that he'd support opening a Department of Justice (DOJ) criminal investigation into President Trump Donald John TrumpSteele Dossier sub-source was subject of FBI counterintelligence probe Pelosi slams Trump executive order on pre-existing conditions: It 'isn't worth the paper it's signed on' Trump 'no longer angry' at Romney because of Supreme Court stance MORE on possible obstruction of justice should he defeat Trump in 2020.

Buttigieg, who is running for president, also told The Atlantic he would only take such a step if a "credible allegation" emerges, while expressing wariness about keeping an investigation outside the DOJ's realm to avoid politicizing such a probe.

“To the extent that there’s an obstruction case, then yes, DOJ’s got to deal with it,” Buttigieg told the publication in an interview published Thursday.

"I would want any credible allegation of criminal behavior to be investigated to the fullest,” Buttigieg also said.

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“You don’t have to go out of the DOJ. And the less it’s done out of the DOJ, the better, because the further away it is from the political body, the better.”

The Atlantic also reported that Buttigieg reiterated his support for Congress launching an impeachment inquiry against Trump.

“The more we separate the concept of impeachment from the concept of removal from office and talk about this as a process,” he said, “the more likely it is that Congress will find that its greatest contribution to the rule of law may well be in creating that process.”

Buttigieg is one of several 2020 Democratic candidates who have called for Congress to launch an impeachment inquiry against Trump following the release of 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's report on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

The report stated it had found no evidence of collusion between Russia and Trump's campaign but did not clear the president of obstruction.

Mueller reiterated the conclusions of that report in a rare press conference last month in which he said that if his office “had confidence that the president clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said so.”

"Robert Mueller could not clear the president, nor could he charge him — so he has handed the matter to Congress, which alone can act to deliver due process and accountability," Buttigieg tweeted after Mueller's remarks.

This is as close to an impeachment referral as it gets. Robert Mueller could not clear the president, nor could he charge him — so he has handed the matter to Congress, which alone can act to deliver due process and accountability. — Pete Buttigieg (@PeteButtigieg) May 29, 2019

Buttigieg's comments on potentially pursuing an investigation of Trump for obstruction of justice also came just a day after Sen. Kamala Harris Kamala HarrisHundreds of lawyers from nation's oldest African American sorority join effort to fight voter suppression Biden picks up endorsement from progressive climate group 350 Action 3 reasons why Biden is misreading the politics of court packing MORE (D-Calif.), who is also running for president, said her Justice Department would have "no choice" but to prosecute Trump for possible obstruction of justice if she became president.

"I believe that they would have no choice and that they should, yes," the former California attorney general told the "NPR Politics Podcast" in an episode released Wednesday. "There has to be accountability."