Kamala Harris calls for Trump's impeachment after Mueller report

Democratic Presidential Candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., speaks at the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority South Central Regional Conference in New Orleans, Friday, April 19, 2019. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) Democratic Presidential Candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., speaks at the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority South Central Regional Conference in New Orleans, Friday, April 19, 2019. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) Photo: Gerald Herbert, Associated Press Photo: Gerald Herbert, Associated Press Image 1 of / 23 Caption Close Kamala Harris calls for Trump's impeachment after Mueller report 1 / 23 Back to Gallery

During a CNN town hall on Monday night, Kamala Harris said that congressional Democrats should begin impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump.

Harris was asked by an audience member about her takeaways from special counsel Robert Mueller's recently-released report on the Trump campaign's ties to Russia and the president's possible obstruction of justice.

"It is very clear there is a lot of good evidence pointing towards obstruction," Harris said. "I think we have very good reason to believe that there is an investigation that has been conducted which has produced evidence that tells us that this president and his administration engaged in obstruction of justice. I believe Congress should take the steps towards impeachment."

Sen. Kamala Harris on Trump: "I believe Congress should take the steps towards impeachment" #HarrisTownHall https://t.co/lGKW3BZE52 pic.twitter.com/lg052JZpBn — CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) April 23, 2019

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Harris added that while she believes impeachment proceedings should begin, she does not actually believe the process will result in Trump's removal from office, citing Senate Republicans who will likely not vote for impeachment.

"I'm also a realist," she said. "When I look at what has been happening over the two years and some months I've been in the United States Senate I've also witnessed folks in the United States Congress and in particular the GOP, who have been presented many reasons to push back against this president and they have not... We have to be realistic about what might be the end result, but that doesn't mean the process should not take hold."

Impeaching the president requires a majority vote in the House and two-thirds of the Senate, and Republicans currently hold the Senate 53-47.

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Mueller found no collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government, and did not reach a prosecutorial decision on obstruction of justice.

Attorney General William Barr and assistant AG Rod Rosenstein reviewed the evidence related to obstruction and also decided not to bring a formal case against the president.

Elizabeth Warren became the first in the 2020 Democratic primary field to call for Trump's impeachment last week when she tweeted, "To ignore a President's repeated efforts to obstruct an investigation into his own disloyal behavior would inflict great and lasting damage on this country, and it would suggest that both the current and future Presidents would be free to abuse their power in similar ways."

"The severity of this misconduct demands that elected officials in both parties set aside political considerations and do their constitutional duty," she continued. "That means the House should initiate impeachment proceedings against the President of the United States."

Bernie Sanders, who took the town hall stage just before Harris, said he is afraid impeachment may end up helping Trump.

"If for the next year all the Congress is talking about is 'Trump, Trump, Trump,' and 'Mueller, Mueller, Mueller' and we're not talking about health care and raising the minimum wage to a living wage and we're not talking about climate change and sexism and racism and homophobia and the issues that concern ordinary Americans, I worry that works to Trump's advantage," he said.

Eric Ting is an SFGATE staff writer. Email him at eric.ting@sfgate.com and follow him on Twitter

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