Harris advises Democrats against attempting to impeach Trump

Former Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday urged Democrats against making a third attempt to impeach President Trump if they win back the House after next week’s midterm elections.

“I think that going in the direction of impeachment is not a good idea, just to be honest with you,” Harris told MeidasTouch’s Aaron Parnas in an interview. “Just because we have limited resources and I think the energy and the resources need to put into accountability, need to be put into investigations.”

“And that’s where the time should be spent,” she added. “Remember, I was in the Senate for the last go-around, and the votes aren’t there. “So, that’s how I feel. But also, I think after the election, we all have to just also agree that our attitude has to be to get stuff done.”

Harris said Democrats should be “uncompromising” and “not sit around, you know, being genteel about the relationships,” but maintain accountability when it comes to cuts to healthcare and oversight on the Iran war.

The former vice president was days into her new role in 2021 when Democratic lawmakers impeached Trump in connection with the Jan. 6 Capitol Hill attack. In February 2021, the Senate acquitted Trump in a 57-43 vote, with all Democrats voting “guilty,” joined by seven Republican senators, but falling short of the 67 votes needed to convict the then-former president.

Democrats have not ruled out making a third impeachment attempt if they win back the House next week, nor have they ruled out impeaching members of the administration like Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

“We’ve got to follow the facts, apply the law, be guided by the Constitution, and then let the chips fall where they may, in the best interests of the American people,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) told ABC News last month when asked about pursuing another Trump impeachment.

Trump and Republican congressional leaders have insisted that Democrats will attempt to impeach the president next year.

“It’s guaranteed, probably on the first day — first or second day,” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said Tuesday in an interview with Scott Jennings, a pro-Trump pundit. “Remember, they’ve already filed articles of impeachment in this Congress. And they’re raring to go.”

A third impeachment would be unprecedented, with Trump already holding the distinction of being the only U.S. president impeached twice. Efforts to impeach former President Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1999 ended in acquittals, and former President Richard Nixon faced a likely impeachment before he resigned the presidency in 1974.

Democratic lawmakers first impeached Trump in late 2019, with Trump accused of requesting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate then-former Vice President Biden and his family before launching his 2020 presidential campaign, eventually defeating Trump.

The Senate acquitted Trump in a 48-52 vote on abuse of power and 47-53 on obstruction in February 2020.