U.S. Rep. Greg Stanton, a member of the House Judiciary Committee, said Thursday he now supports opening an impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump, a sign of growing Democratic concern after the release of the special counsel's report.

"This is a conclusion I reached only recently, and not one I reached lightly," Stanton said in a statement released Thursday.

His announcement came a day after former special counsel Robert Mueller made his first, and perhaps only, public statement about what he found during a 22-month investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and possible obstruction of the probe by Trump and the White House.

Mueller cited a longstanding Justice Department policy against indicting a sitting president and alluded to Congress' power to impeach. Stanton said he is willing to take the first step toward doing so.

Stanton, a freshman, noted that Mueller "uncovered significant evidence that the president obstructed justice."

"If the evidence the Special Counsel discovered is accurate, I believe it surpasses the Constitutional threshold of high crimes and misdemeanors," he said, invoking the language used to define impeachable offenses.

Other Arizona lawmakers respond

Stanton's position stands opposite fellow Arizona Reps. Andy Biggs and Debbie Lesko, both of whom are Republicans and also sit on the Judiciary Committee.

On Wednesday, both of them held to the GOP message that Mueller's investigation didn't find collusion or obstruction involving Trump and that America needs to move on to other issues.

Mueller's appearance this week gave renewed energy to those urging Trump's impeachment, though the issue remains hotly debated in Democratic circles.

"With respect to impeachment, all options are on the table and nothing should be ruled out," said Rep, Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., who chairs the Judiciary Committee. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., remains opposed to impeachment, at least for now.

That is presumably because removing Trump in the GOP-controlled Senate seems unlikely given his strong support among Republican senators.

That was on display on Wednesday when U.S. Sen. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., who is involved in one of the nation's most competitive Senate races next year, quickly rejected any talk of impeachment.

"It's time to move on, it is time to move on," McSally said. "When I talk to regular Arizonans, this is not what they are focused on. There have been conclusions in this report: We should all be mad at the Russians. We should be united, not divided. The discord that they were hoping for is certainly playing itself out, isn't it?"

'No person is above the law'

A spokeswoman for Stanton said he did not want to elaborate on his statement in an interview. The statement, however, did sketch out more of his thinking.

"The Special Counsel's redacted report detailed Russia's sweeping attack on America's democracy. Yet the President has refused to defend our nation and leaves us vulnerable to further attack," Stanton said. "In fact, to this day, the President curiously accepts Russian President Vladimir Putin's denials of interference at face value. The Special Counsel also uncovered significant evidence that the President obstructed justice but was prohibited by Department of Justice policy from filing charges. If the evidence the Special Counsel discovered is accurate, I believe it surpasses the Constitutional threshold of high crimes and misdemeanors.

"Since the release of the Special Counsel's report, the President and his Administration have sought to undermine the checks and balances that are the foundation of our democracy. The President defied lawful requests from Congress and attempted to exempt himself and his Administration from oversight by claiming an extraordinary and overly-broad interpretation of executive privilege — an interpretation that no court has recognized. No person is above the law, and the situation we find ourselves in is solely a result of the President's own actions."

Reach the reporter Ronald J. Hansen at ronald.hansen@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-4493. Follow him on Twitter @ronaldjhansen.

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