Former Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Donald Trump includes “very substantial evidence” that the US President is guilty of crimes, according to a top Democrat.
Many Democrats are hoping that Mr Mueller’s testimony in Congress on Wednesday could lead to impeachment proceedings against Mr Trump.
Discussing the Mueller report on Russian election interference, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, who would oversee impeachment proceedings, said: “The administration must be held accountable, and no president can be above the law.”
The US Constitution says “treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanours” could prompt impeachment. Mr Nadler told Fox News: “We have to let Mueller present those facts then see where to go from there.
“The President and the Attorney General and others have spent the last few months lying to the American people about what the investigation found.
“They’ve said it found no collusion, it found no obstruction, it exonerated the President. All three of those statements are absolute lies. It’s important that we not have a lawless president.”
House Intelligence Committee Chairman and Democrat, Adam Schiff, wants Mr Mueller to bring his 448-page report “to life” in his testimony.
“It’s a pretty damning set of facts about a campaign welcoming help from a hostile foreign power,” he said. “Not reporting it, but eagerly embracing it, lying about it, then obstructing an investigation.”
Although Mr Mueller did not conclude that Mr Trump was guilty of a crime, the report did not exonerate him.
Mr Schiff told NBC that he plans to ask the former Special Counsel if he felt bound by the convention that a sitting president could not be charged with a crime, and whether Mr Trump should be indicted once he leaves the White House.
