NADLER: Our core job is to protect the rule of law, and there have been no investigations [under Republicans]. We’ve seen real threats to the rule of law from this White House, whether personal enrichment — the White House seems to have used its power for personal enrichment in violation of the emoluments clause of the Constitution, we’ve seen abuses of power, obstruction of justice, threats to the Mueller investigation, threats to witnesses, all of these have to be an abuse of — all of these have to be investigated and laid out to the American people.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Let me pick up on that abuse of power that you lay out. There’s one school of thought that a sitting president can’t be indicted, especially for actions he takes in office.

But some of your fellow Democrats already say that the evidence the president has obstructed justice in the Russia investigation is an abuse of power that justifies impeachment.

So can there be impeachable offenses like that that are not crimes?

NADLER: Oh, sure. Crimes and impeachable offense is two different things. There can be crimes that are impeachable offenses and impeachable offenses that are not crimes. They’re just two different tests.

But we have to lay out for the American people and we can’t depend on the Mueller investigation for this. The Mueller investigation, number one, we don’t know when it’s ending despite lots of rumors, number two it’s focused on specific crimes. . . .

We’ve seen attacks on the freedom of the press, the press called the enemy of the people, we’ve seen attacks on the Department of Justice, attacks on the FBI, attacks on — on judges. All of these are very corrosive to liberty and to the proper functioning of government and to our constitutional system.

All this has to be looked at and the facts laid out to the American people.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Do you think the president obstructed justice?

NADLER: Yes, I do.

STEPHANOPOULOS: If that’s —

NADLER: It’s very clear that the president obstructed justice. It’s very clear — 1,100 times he referred to the Mueller investigation as a witch hunt, he tried to – he fired – he tried to protect Flynn from being investigated by the FBI. He fired Comey in order to stop the Russian thing, as he told NBC News. He — he’s dangled part —

STEPHANOPOULOS: But —

NADLER: He’s threat — he’s intimidated witnesses. In public.

STEPHANOPOULOS: If that’s the case, then is the decision not to pursue impeachment right now simply political? If you believe he obstructed justice?

NADLER: No. We have to — we have to do the investigations and get all this. We do not now have the evidence all sorted out and everything to do — to do an impeachment. Before you impeach somebody, you have to persuade the American public that it ought to happen. You have to persuade enough of the — of the opposition party voters, Trump voters, that you’re not just trying to . . .

STEPHANOPOULOS: That’s a very high bar.

NADLER: Yeah. It is a very high bar. That you’re not just trying to steal the last — to reverse the results of the last election. We may or may not get there. But what we have to do is protect the rule of law. . . .

STEPHANOPOULOS: One final question. The president put out a tweet yesterday morning — early yesterday morning, want to show it up on the screen, “Very proud of perhaps the greatest golf course anywhere in the world. Also furthers U.K. relationship.” That of course is a Trump golf course in Scotland. Many ethics experts came out and said that’s a violation of the emoluments clause. Do you agree?

NADLER: It certainly seems to be. He seems to have violated the emoluments clause in a lot of different ways and that’s one of the things we should be investigating under — under abuses — under abuses of power. Let me say this; Congress has to do its job. And Congress has to do its job whether it’s investigating the administration, holding the administration accountable, which Republicans in Congress absolutely refuse to do, and dealing with our other problems. . . .