Rep. Jerrold Nadler on Sunday defended Robert Mueller’s testimony to two congressional panels last week about his Russia investigation, but a new poll shows his appearance failed to move the needle on whether President Trump should be impeached.
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“I think it was very important that he testified,” the New York Democrat told ABC’s “This Week.” “He broke the lie that the president and the attorney general have been saying to the American people.”
Nadler said since the former special counsel released his 448-page report on his investigation to the attorney general in March, William Barr and Trump “misrepresented” it and “lied to the American people,” saying it found “no collusion, no obstruction and totally exonerated the president.”
“All those three statements are lies and it was very important for Mueller to get up there and say just that,” Nadler said. “It’s very important that that information get out to the American people and we can now build on that.”
But a survey released Sunday showed that Mueller’s testimony before the House Judiciary and Intelligence committees last Wednesday didn’t have the impact Democrats had hoped.
Although 71 percent of Americans said they had either read, seen or heard about his testimony, 47 percent said it made no difference in their views about impeachment, an ABC News/Ipsos poll showed.
Twenty-seven percent said they were “more likely” to support impeachment, but 26 percent said they were “less likely.”
Among Democrats, 48 percent said they were “more likely,” 8 percent were “less likely” and 44 percent said their view remained unchanged.
Only 3 percent of Republicans said they were “more likely” to back impeachment, 42 percent were “less likely” and 54 percent were unchanged.
Nadler said he supports pursuing impeachment against Trump.
“My personal view is that he richly deserves impeachment,” he said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “He has done many impeachable offenses. He’s violated the law six ways from Sunday. But that’s not the question. The question is can we develop enough evidence to put before the American people.”
Additional reporting by Marisa Schultz
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