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LOS ANGELES (FOX 11) - An increasing number of Democratic members of Congress and presidential candidates are calling for President Trump to be impeached.
Democratic Congresswoman Karen Bass of Los Angeles isn't one of them.
"Do I think it's time to impeach? I don't. Would I like to see Trump removed immediately? Absolutely," Bass told Elex Michaelson in an interview for "The Issue Is:"
Michaelson asked about President Trump suggesting he'd be open to listening to foreign governments who may have incriminating information about his opponents.
"In regards to his comments, why should we be surprised?" Bass said.
But, Bass added that Congress needs more time to investigate before going down the impeachment road.
"Congress did absolutely nothing for 2 years while Republicans were in charge. Democrats have only been in charge for six months…and frankly, we've only been at full speed for three months."
"We have to see whether they are willing to comply. We need the people to come forward. We need Mueller to come, we need McGahn to come, we are going to have Hope Hicks come," Bass said.
Historically, she said, this process takes time.
"If you look back at Nixon, you look back at Clinton, it took a year and two years."
Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been hesitant on the impeachment issue, even though some of her more progressive members are pushing hard.
Bass said, "The Mueller Report looked at one issue alone. We need to look at the conflict of interest, we need to look at emoluments. This man, in my opinion, has been running a criminal enterprise. But it doesn't make sense for us to rush to do something that we know is not going to result in him being removed."
Currently, no Republicans in the Senate have expressed interest in removing the President from office.
"Why would we take people down a process when we know he's not going to leave?" Bass said. "If we did it today, there would be no conviction in the Senate…but who knows…if we go through this process, maybe my Republican colleagues will grow a spine and realize this guy needs to go? They have decided to essentially compromise because they get tax cuts, they get deregulation, and they get the courts."
"Let's play it out," Bass said.
Bass is holding a special meeting to address the Mueller Report. The event is free and open to the public. Information below.
- Saturday, June 15, 2019, from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the United Methodist Church located at 3740 Don Felipe Drive in Los Angeles.
- She's also holding a community event to celebrate the opening of the Marvin Gaye Post Office on Saturday, June 15, 2019, from 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. at 3585 S. Vermont Avenue in Los Angeles.