Impeachable Offense?

A BuzzFeed report claims that President Donald Trump instructed his lawyer at the time, Michael Cohen to lie to Congress in 2017 about talks to build a trump tower in Moscow.

If true, this may be the strongest indication yet that President Trump criminally tried to obstruct justice in connection with the Russia investigation. 

The report cites "two federal law enforcement officials involved in an investigation of the matter.”

Politics host Amy Walter talked to Anthony Cormier, a Buzzfeed investigative reporter who co-authored that report.

And for the congressional reaction, she spoke with Joaquin Castro, a Democratic congressman from Texas.

Congressman Castro took to Twitter after the story published to say:

If the @BuzzFeed story is true, President Trump must resign or be impeached.

 Amy Walter asked Congressman Castro, how he will know if the Buzzfeed story is true?

Amy's Final Take: This story has set D.C. on fire.

But, it’s not the first time that Washington thought that this was the story to end all stories. We’ve still got a long way to go. First, as Buzzfeed’s Anthony Cormier told us, Michael Cohen’s Feb. 7th hearing in front of the House Oversight Committee may not provide the kind of bombshells or corroboration that many are expecting. In other words, there may be more questions than answers.

Democrats in Congress aren’t quite ready yet to pull the trigger on impeachment. Yet, at least one Democratic Rep. thinks it may not be necessary to wait until the Mueller report comes out.  House investigations - and investigative reporting - can fill in the blanks. And provide enough evidence for impeachment proceedings to begin.

Thanks for hitting up our extra podcast today on Politics with Amy Walter….we’ll keep watching this story and we know you will also.

UPDATE: The Washington Post reports: Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s office on Friday denied an explosive report by BuzzFeed News that his investigators had gathered evidence showing President Trump directed his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, to lie to Congress about a prospective business deal in Moscow.