Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, a member of the House Judiciary Committee, told Joy Reid this morning that regardless of any difference in nomenclature, there is no disconnect between the committee and Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
“We are very pleased with the framework of which we are operating under, that the speaker agrees with,” Jackson Lee said, which is “legislating, litigating and investigating.”
“Our litigating is to, in fact, move us forward more intensely in the investigation,” she said, with “witness after witness after witness.” As an example, she cited litigation to compel former White House counsel Don McGahn to testify before the committee.
Jackson Lee thinks obstruction of justice is “the most stark and devastating” of the potential accusations in any articles of impeachment. She was referring to Trump’s efforts to fire special counsel Robert Mueller, then trying to cover it up, Trump’s attempts to get then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions to un-recuse himself and take the investigation away from Mueller and, of course, the firing of FBI Director James Comey. “All of that is in the wheelhouse of high crimes and misdemeanors,” she added.
McGahn would be a central figure in any obstruction of justice investigation.
Jackson Lee pointed out that with Richard Nixon, it wasn’t the burglary that forced him to resign, it was the cover up.
“Speaker Pelosi has her responsibilities,” Jackson Lee said, referring to Pelosi's caution when discussing the matter. But that is not holding the Judiciary Committee back. “We're investigating so that we can educate the public, but as well, find all the facts that may be relevant to then writing the articles of impeachment, which, by the way, that is what will go to the floor of the House for a vote," Jackson Lee said.
In other words, game on.