Warren 'willing to listen' to Trump's impeachment defense but evidence 'pretty clear'

The Massachusetts senator said, "It looks pretty clear to me what's going on."

September 29, 2019, 7:39 PM

As the first week of impeachment proceedings gets underway, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said she's "certainly willing to listen" to a defense from the Trump White House but believes there's already enough evidence from the Mueller report to call for impeachment.

"He wants to mount a defense, I'm certainly willing to listen to it. But that's the evidence that's in front of us right now," Warren said on Sunday, at a presidential candidate forum in Madison Heights, Michigan.

Warren was asked by a reporter if she thought it was "premature" to support impeachment proceedings "having heard no evidence" come before the House.

"I'm sorry, did you say, 'No evidence'?" Warren responded.

PHOTO: Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts addresses a crowd at Clinton College, a historically black college and university in Rock Hill, S.C., Saturday, Sept. 28, 2019. She spoke in Michigan on Sunday.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts addresses a crowd at Clinton College, a historically black college and university in Rock Hill, S.C., Saturday, Sept. 28, 2019. She spoke in Michigan on Sunday.
Meg Kinnard/AP

"I think Donald Trump has already said enough," Warren continued, pointing to the Mueller report, as well as the recently released whistleblower complaint about Trump's communications with the president of Ukraine.

"The details made it clear that Donald Trump had obstructed justice multiple times," Warren said "So, I am glad for the House to do the investigation, but it looks pretty clear to me what's going on."

Though Warren on Sunday pointed to the Mueller report as the foundation for an impending impeachment probe, in recent days she's also said she believes the current inquiry's purview should focus on the Ukraine issue -- a belief held across the board by Democrats who want to maintain a simplified message.

"Right now, I'd like to just see us do the Ukraine issue because it is so clear and it is such a clear violation of law," Warren said in an earlier interview CNN. "The president is asking for help against one of his political rivals and asking a foreign government for a thing of value for himself personally. That's against the law. And after all that happened in 2016 and the Mueller investigation, the president knows that."

PHOTO: Sen. Amy Klobuchar speaks during the Democratic Polk County Steak Fry on Sept. 21, 2019 in Des Moines, Iowa. She spokes in Michigan on Sunday.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar speaks during the Democratic Polk County Steak Fry on Sept. 21, 2019 in Des Moines, Iowa. She spokes in Michigan on Sunday.
Joshua Lott/Getty Images

That message was shared by Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., who also spoke on Sunday at the forum in Michigan, which was held by the United Food and Commercial Workers Union.

"The Mueller investigation was like a blockbuster movie that went on and on and on. And this is actually a much more pointed violation," Klobuchar told reporters. "The reason I keep bringing up Watergate is because, as you remember, that involved a lot of other things that President Nixon was doing that were bad and illegal, but it was one thing that people could understand when the truth really came out."

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