Republicans may still move to impeach President Donald Trump if charges were brought forward by the Democrats as a result of the special counsel's investigation, according to CNBC's Washington correspondent.
Speaking during an edition of CNBC's Live with Alex Witt on December 16, John Harwood said it should not be guaranteed that the Republican-controlled Senate would vote down any effort to impeach the president as a result of the findings of Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian collusion.
Read more: Donald Trump impeachment odds surge, with president now rated more likely than not to be impeached
Harwood admitted it would be an "uphill task" to get the 20 Republicans needed for a two-third majority to bring forward impeachment charges, but claimed its is not unreasonable having spoken to former chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), Tom Davis.
"On the issue of impeachment, I do believe that Democratic leaders understand that that is where this is headed but they don't want to appear too eager for it, that's why they say wait for Mueller," Harwood said, reported Mediate.
"Mueller seems to be accelerating the pace of actions in his investigations so that's actually happening. I don't think the fervor for impeachment within the Democratic Party is going to be stoppable by Democratic leaders," Harwood added.
Discussing his conversation with Davis, Harwood said the former GOP Virginia congressmen believes some Republicans "will likely" join with Democrats on the impeachment front.
"It's not impossible given what Mueller finds and how political circumstances deteriorate, that it's not out of the question that a Senate could convict on impeachment charges," Harwood added. "But we're going to have to see what Mueller lays down."
According to a recent NBC/WSJ poll, 62 percent of American adults do not believe that Trump has been "honest and truthful" in relation to the investigation into Russian interference during the 2016 presidential election campaign.
Forty-six percent of those who took part in the poll believe the guilty pleas by some of Trump's associates—including former campaign chair Paul Manafort and former lawyer Michael Cohen—mean there is the possibility that the president has committed some sort of wrongdoing.
In a separate poll conducted by CNN, 50 percent of those who took part said they do not think Trump ought to be impeached and removed from the White House, compared to 43 percent who believe that he should.
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About the writer
Ewan Palmer is a Newsweek News Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on US politics, domestic policy ... Read more
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