Hillary Clinton Backs Trump Impeachment Probe: ‘We Are in a Crisis’

Failed 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has come out in favor of House Democrats’ newly launched impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump in the wake of the president asking Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky to look into Hunter Biden’s business dealings.

Clinton told People magazine in an interview published Tuesday:

I’m in favor of moving toward impeachment. I did not come to that decision easily or quickly, but this is an emergency as I see it. … This latest behavior around Ukraine, trying to enlist the president of Ukraine in a plot to undermine former Vice President Biden or lose the military aide he needs to defend against Trump’s friend, Vladimir Putin — if that’s not an impeachable offense, I don’t know what is.

“We are in a crisis,” she added.

Clinton’s comments come as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced a formal impeachment inquiry at a press conference on Capitol Hill, telling reporters that the House of Representatives is “moving forward with an official impeachment inquiry.”

Pelosi said:

The actions taken to date by the president have seriously violated the Constitution, especially when the president says, Article II says I can do whatever I want. And this week, the president has admitted to asking the president of Ukraine to take actions which would benefit him politically, the actions of the Trump presidency revealed the dishonorable fact of the president’s betrayal of his oath of office, betrayal of our national security, and betrayal of the integrity of our elections.

“I’m directing our six committees to proceed with their investigations under that umbrella of an impeachment inquiry. The president must be held accountable,” she added.

The development followed a group of moderate Democrats who face tough re-election fights in 2020 coming out in favor of ousting President Trump. On Tuesday, House Oversight Committee Chair Elijah Cummings (D-MD) and Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) publically expressed support for the move.

Despite numerous congressional Democrats’ eagerness to impeachment President Trump over his call with Zelensky, it’s unclear if their conversation included illegalities. Further, the alleged “whistleblower” who reportedly claims to have knowledge of the president pressuring Zelensky did not hear the pair’s conversation first hand.

Additionally, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko also dismissed the notion of any crime in President Trump’s conversation with Zelensky. “I know what the conversation was about and I think there was no pressure,” Prystaiko told Hromadske, a Ukrainian online broadcast outlet. “There was talk, conversations are different, leaders have the right to discuss any problems that exist. This conversation was long, friendly, and it touched on many questions, sometimes requiring serious answers.”