Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga), the House Judiciary Committee’s ranking Republican, sounded off Monday at the Democratic members of the Judiciary Committee, tweeting:
People not included in Judiciary Democrats’ investigation of @POTUS: Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, and Elvis. At this rate, best case scenario for their sprawling investigation is that we FINALLY discover who framed Roger Rabbit.— Rep. Doug Collins (@RepDougCollins) March 4, 2019
It can’t be understated how damaging of an impact the unsubstantiated accusations against Roger Rabbit had on Toontown, a suburb of Los Angeles, which was torn apart by the framing…oh, I’ve been asked to talk about the President Trump thing.
Rep. Collins’s Roger Rabbit themed jab was in reference to the Democrat-controlled House Judiciary Committee expanding the scope of their investigations into President Trump. Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said in a statement that the committee would open investigations into public corruption, obstruction of justice, and abuses of power by President Trump. These new lines of investigation will overlap with many aspects of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, which Judiciary Democrats are no longer willing to await the findings of before intensifying their investigations of the president. The special counsel’s investigation is believed to be in its final stages. The new lines of inquiry opened by Judiciary Democrats include the Trump-Putin talks, Comey’s firing, and President Trump’s business dealings with Russia.
In pursuit of these new areas of investigation, the House Judiciary Committee issued document requests to a whopping 81 agencies, individuals, and other entities with ties to President Trump, including members of the Trump family, the Trump Organization, the Trump campaign, the Trump Foundation, the presidential inaugural committee, and the White House. These document requests will help the House Judiciary Committee determine which witnesses to summon and which avenues against President Trump are the most promising.
On the Sunday talk shows, Rep. Nadler denied Democrats are pursuing impeachment investigations. Rep. Nadler stated, “impeachment is a long way down the road. We don’t have the facts yet, but we’re going to initiate proper investigations.”
Rep. Collins responded to Rep. Nadler’s statements, saying “we don’t even know what the Mueller report says, but Democrats are already hedging their bets. After recklessly prejudging the president for obstruction, Chairman Nadler is pursuing evidence to back up his conclusion because, as he admits, ‘We don’t have the facts yet.’” Rep. Collins is referring to previous statements from the Judiciary Chairman about his belief that President Trump has committed crimes. For example, in an interview last week with The New York Times, Rep. Nadler stated he believed it was “very clear that the president obstructed justice.”
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy echoed Rep. Collins sentiment, stating Rep. Nadler decided to impeach President Trump “the day the president won the election.”
The actions of the House Judiciary Committee come as House Democrats in other committees attempt to gather incriminating evidence against President Trump. Democrats heading the House of Representatives Intelligence, Foreign Affairs and Oversight committees wrote to the White House and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo seeking information about President Trump’s communication with Putin.