Attorney General Jeff Sessions decision to accept the FBI's and Department of Justice's recommendation that former FBI acting director, Andrew McCabe, be fired is cause for President Trump to be impeached, an MSNBC panel suggested Friday night.
"In every situation like this you have to think about obstruction of justice, just off the bat," an attorney, Danny Cevallos, told MSNBC's Brian Williams. "To what degree could you make a case that the president by firing people, by removing anybody that he perceives as adversarial."
"Ultimately obstruction, even if it’s not a criminal action, is always an impeachable offense," Cevallos continued. "And you do not need an impeachable offense to be a crime at all. These are thing that special counsel is going to look at, especially with the shadow of obstruction hanging over this."
The MSNBC panel suggested McCabe's firing is an attempt to undermine him as a witness in hearings into the president obstructing justice.
"For you to believe that Andy McCabe’s firing is on the level, you have to believe it was entirely coincidental that he was fired by Jeff Sessions 24 hours before he was eligible to retire after a career of distinction with honor and it is entirely coincidental that the two thing are happening at the time," the New York Time's Jeremy Bash said. "And of course, nobody in America believes that."
"It is clear as day that the president of the United States directed the attorney general, either implicitly or explicitly, to fire Andy McCabe to undermine him as a witness in any upcoming proceeding in which McCabe can corroborate Jim Comey's testimony that the president obstructed justice."
Here's a transcript from the exchange:
BASH: "That’s right Brian. And for you to believe that Andy McCabe’s firing is on the level, you have to believe it was entirely coincidental that he was fired by Jeff Sessions 24 hours before he was eligible to retire after a career of distinction with honor and it is entirely coincidental that the two thing are happening at the time. And of course, nobody in America believes that. It is clear as day that the president of the United States directed the attorney general, either implicitly or explicitly, to fire Andy McCabe to undermine him as a witness in any upcoming proceeding in which McCabe can corroborate Jim Comey's testimony that the president obstructed justice."
WILLIAMS: "Danny Cevallos, of course it’s McCabe and not Trump who knows and has worked with Comey, it's McCabe and not Trump who has worked with and knows Mueller and also knows the quality of his work product. If you’re Mueller and the 16 or so co-counsels on Mueller’s team, how are you looking at this tonight?"
CEVALLOS: "There are a lot of implications from a firing like this. In every situation like this you have to think about obstruction of justice, just off the bat. To what degree could you make a case that the president by firing people, by removing anybody that he perceives as adversarial."
WILLIAMS: "How about trolling them publicly on Twitter?"
CEVALLOS: "Trolling them publicly, which also infringe on their free association, their free speech. I mean there are many potential problems. Every time the president acts, one of these officials on Twitter, and then fires them what appears to be summarily. And then, if nothing else, exceedingly quickly in a situation like this because we know that these investigations generally move slowly. There may have been a good cause to terminate McCabe but the speed at which it’s done alone raises the specter of doubt. Ultimately obstruction, even if it’s not a criminal action, is always an impeachable offense. And you do not need an impeachable offense to be a crime at all. These are thing that special counsel is going to look at, especially with the shadow of obstruction hanging over this."