Jared Huffman, our 2nd District representative in the U.S. Congress, appeared on both the PBS Newshour and MSNBC yesterday to talk about the prospect of impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump in the wake of the Mueller Report. 

Huff’s take? Let’s do it!

MSNBC host Steve Kornacki plays up a purported divide in the Democratic caucus between those who wish to pursue impeachment and those who prefer to hang back for now. Huffman says Dems aren’t as divided as the current media cycle suggests: They’re all in favor of a thorough investigation and many, including himself, believe impeachment is inevitable.

Kornacki brings it back to the political calculus, asking whether the matter should be left to voters as we get closer to the 2020 election, and Huffman rejects that argument.

“We’d better think very carefully about the downside of punting on our Constitutional responsibility,” he says, “because when you do that you now have a president who for the next year and a half knows he can’t be indicted by the Department of Justice because of their internal policy and now also knows that Congress doesn’t have the stomach to do its job under the Constitution. Who knows what that invites from Donald Trump? Who knows what that invites from future presidents?” 

On PBS he had essentially the same message, saying it would be damaging to the country if Congress failed to act.

“The Constitution created our impeachment authority for exactly this kind of circumstance,” he tells host Judy Woodruff.