Republican Rep. Darrell Issa said Wednesday that those floating the possible impeachment of Hillary Clinton if she is elected president should “calm down” and “back off.”
“OK, I’m gonna say, be the adult in the room and say ‘calm down, back off, it’s not gonna happen,'” the California congressman and Trump supporter said on the Brett Winterble Show on 760 KFMB San Diego radio. “The fact is we have impeached and removed from office nine federal judges in our history, no members of the executive branch, not a president, not a vice president, not a cabinet officer, so floating that word is usually a fairly reckless thing.”
As CNN’s KFile reported on Wednesday, several GOP congressmen have warned of a ‘constitutional crisis’ is Clinton is indicted as a result of the FBI investigation into her emails. Republican Congressman Michael McCaul specifically mentioned the possibility of impeachment proceedings.
Issa, who is facing a tough reelection battle, has said Clinton should be indicted for her use of a private server as secretary of state. In the interview on Wednesday, Issa said that throwing executives out of office is something that “happens in third-world countries.”
“But the idea that there’s some sort of a quick fix and you throw somebody out of office, it happens in third-world countries,” Issa said. “It mostly doesn’t happen in the US. You know, that’s not to say that it can’t be a tool that’s available. But I would ask everyone to calm down and go back to the basics, which is we have an opportunity at the ballot box to determine whether Hillary Clinton has disqualified herself with her actions. Do that first.”
Issa, who is a member of the House Committee on the Judiciary, added that impeachment should be used a last resort.
“I always push back and tell people that’s something you want to reserve that for long after the American people are demanding it before you even begin to look at it,” he said. “And I’ve been there. I’ve voted to impeach federal judges so I’ve been there in that process. It’s long and you need to have the right thing to do it with.”