On Monday’s Good Morning America, co-host George Stephanopoulos was all set to convict President Trump of a crime and move on to impeachment proceedings as he cited left-wing Harvard Law professor and Barack Obama mentor Laurence Tribe, who called for just that in a screed for Saturday’s Washington Post.
Turning to ABC Chief Legal Analyst Dan Abrams, Stephanopoulos eagerly proclaimed: “...Dan, with this firing of James Comey. The implicit threat from President Trump there saying he might have tapes on Comey. You’ve got top law professors like Laurence Tribe saying this is an impeachable offense, possible obstruction of justice.”
Abrams was forced to rein in the former Clinton operative’s wild speculation:
For obstruction of justice you have to be able to demonstrate the person had the intent to obstruct justice. And to determine that, you need an investigation, and ultimately, people willing to prosecute. People forget, impeachment is a political act, it’s not a legal act. You need the political will to even really investigate this, much less prosecute it and potentially convict. We’re not there....even if you believe that it’s improper, even if someone believes it’s obstruction, you need to be able to prove it in some way, shape or form. You need to be able to prove intent, and I don’t think we’re there.
Stephanopoulos hopefully replied: “A piece of evidence could be these tapes, if they exist.”
Again, Abrams had to call out the wishful thinking among Trump’s opponents: “But, you know, look, if these tapes exist, could that be possible evidence? Yeah. But I think we’re ahead of ourselves here. I think there are people out there who are hoping that these tapes may be able to show something that we don’t know that exists on those tapes at this point.”
Considering there’s no evidence of such tapes existing, let alone there be anything incriminating on such tapes, perhaps the liberal media should calm down and look at the actual facts before throwing around the “I” word.
This was not the first time Stephanopoulos raised the prospect of Trump being removed from office. Just days after Trump was elected, the GMA anchor wondered if a civil lawsuit against the former businessman could provide grounds for impeachment.
Here is a full transcript of the May 15 segment:
7:13 AM ET
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Okay, let’s talk about this more now with our Chief Legal Analyst Dan Abrams, our Chief White House Correspondent Jon Karl. And let’s begin, Dan, with this firing of James Comey. The implicit threat from President Trump there saying he might have tapes on Comey. You’ve got top law professors like Laurence Tribe saying this is an impeachable offense, possible obstruction of justice.
DAN ABRAMS: Well, look, first let’s talk about obstruction of justice. For obstruction of justice you have to be able to demonstrate the person had the intent to obstruct justice. And to determine that, you need an investigation, and ultimately, people willing to prosecute. People forget, impeachment is a political act, it’s not a legal act. You need the political will to even really investigate this, much less prosecute it and potentially convict. We’re not there. The bottom line is people will say, “But, wait a second, look at what’s happened. Look at what’s happened.” And the response has got to be you still need someone, even if you believe that it’s improper, even if someone believes it’s obstruction, you need to be able to prove it in some way, shape or form. You need to be able to prove intent, and I don’t think we’re there.
STEPHANOPOULOS: A piece of evidence could be these tapes, if they exist.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Did Trump Tape Comey Conversations?; President’s Tweet Sparks Speculation]
ABRAMS: Well, that’s right. But keep in mind, first of all, it’s legal to tape in Washington, D.C.
STEPHANOPOULOS: One-party consent.
ABRAMS: One-party consent in Washington. Florida, Mar-a-Lago might be a different story. But, you know, look, if these tapes exist, could that be possible evidence? Yeah. But I think we’re ahead of ourselves here. I think there are people out there who are hoping that these tapes may be able to show something that we don’t know that exists on those tapes at this point.
STEPHANOPOULOS: And Jon Karl, I was talking to the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee yesterday. Mark Warner says they want to see the tapes, Congress wants to see the tapes, again, if they exist. But I – talking to White House officials – I talked to one this weekend who said, “I don’t even want to know whether they exist or not.”
JON KARL: Well, I’ll tell you, a number of people close to Donald Trump who speak with him
frequently believe that their conversations are being recorded. But nobody here that I’ve spoken to really knows. Congress is going to want to get to the bottom of this. But George, we do know that Donald Trump in the past, in his Trump Tower days, did, at least from time to time, tape his conversations.STEPHANOPOULOS: Yeah, The Wall Street Journal talking to three of his former executives this morning on that.
Meanwhile, on the search for a new FBI director, the President says he wants to try to get this done before he leaves on that big foreign trip on Friday. We saw the people that have been interviewed with Pierre Thomas, but you said there’s some speculation about names not on the list.
KARL: Yeah, it’s incredible. That’s 11 people that Pierre Thomas went through that they’re talking to. I believe it’s quite possible it’s somebody beyond the list. One intriguing possibility is the former FBI Director Robert Mueller. He spent 12 years as FBI director and would be pretty much a slam dunk for Senate confirmation.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Okay, Jon Karl, thanks very much. Dan Abrams, thank you.
