Emanuel urges Democrats to prioritize ethics reform over potential third Trump impeachment

Former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel (D) on Sunday pushed Democrats to focus on ethics reform instead of a third impeachment of President Trump if they win back power in Congress after the midterm elections.

“I’m for the investigations. Hold this administration accountable, which is what the Republican Congress and Senate has refused to do, which is why rather than set up a wedding party in your registry at Williams Sonoma, this administration allows Donald Trump Jr. to allow the Kremlin to be where you register,” Emanuel told NBC News’s Kristen Welker on “Meet the Press,” referencing a ProPublica report about a Russian oligarch funding the president’s son’s wedding celebration.

“They paid $170,000 for a wedding party. And nobody thought it was wrong. That tells you the sense of impunity that’s operating,” he added.

Emanuel, who was also former President Obama’s chief of staff during his first term, then pushed Democrats to “pass an ethics package.”

“You’re never going to get an impeachment. Then if you do that, you just basically proved all Washington is what the American people think,” he said.

Trump was impeached twice during his first term, but Democrats haven’t made much of an effort to impeach the president again during his second term, beyond a bid by Rep. Al Green (D-Texas), which was voted down by several House Democrats.

Democrats appear poised to recapture the House, with Decision Desk HQ (DDHQ) forecasting they’ll have 238 seats following this year’s midterms . The current electoral environment is also favorable for Democrats, with issues like the unpopular war in Iran, President Trump’s poor approval rating and concerns about the economy dragging on the GOP.

According to DDHQ , Trump’s approval rating was sitting at 38.6 percent on Sunday afternoon, with his disapproval rating at 59.3 percent.

The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment.