A new report from BuzzFeed News accuses President Donald Trump of directing his longtime attorney Michael Cohen to lie to Congress, and Joaquín and Julián Castro have called for impeachment proceedings or the president's outright resignation.
San Antonio U.S. Rep. Joaquín Castro fired the first salvo last night on Twitter shortly after the piece was published.
If the @BuzzFeed story is true, President Trump must resign or be impeached.
— Joaquin Castro (@JoaquinCastrotx) January 18, 2019
Castro eased up, slightly, on that assertion today, telling KUT that Congress should wait for results of special counsel Robert Mueller or testimony from Cohen himself next month to confirm the reporting. Castro said he expects the Democratic-controlled House to take up the issue when they return to work next week. If they find cause, Castro said, the fate of an impeachment would be in the hands of the GOP-controlled Senate.
"Whether the Republican senators, including Sens. John Cornyn ... and Ted Cruz of Texas, whether they would vote to impeach the president, I think it's a question you'd have to ask them," he said.
His brother, presidential hopeful Julián Castro, had a similar message on MSNBC and "The View" this morning.
"I say, yes, if it's true, then he should be impeached," Castro said. "But let's not trip over ourselves, right? First, let's make sure that it's true, and that is going to happen in short order. It is going to happen in short order."
Presidential candidate @JulianCastro says if Buzzfeed's report that Trump directed Michael Cohen to lie under oath is confirmed, Pres. Trump "should be impeached immediately": "But let's not trip over ourselves — first make sure that it's true." https://t.co/f8u2wc159S pic.twitter.com/bsUCg7hNpw
— The View (@TheView) January 18, 2019
On Fox News this morning, White House Deputy Press Secretary Hogan Gidley suggested the BuzzFeed story didn't merit a response from the president because Cohen is not a credible source.
White House spokesman Hogan Gidley: "This is exactly why the president refuses to give any credence or credibility to news outlets because they have no ability to corroborate anything they're putting out there."
— Frank Dale (@fwdale) January 18, 2019
FOX News' Bill Hemmer: "That was not a denial of my question." pic.twitter.com/VzOYr0h8al
During that interview, Fox News Host Bill Hemmer pointed out that Gidley's response was not a denial. Fox later ran a segment attacking the veracity of the piece, hosted by Kevin Corke, which prompted the president to tweet that Cohen was lying to reduce his sentence for lying to Congress.
Kevin Corke, @FoxNews “Don’t forget, Michael Cohen has already been convicted of perjury and fraud, and as recently as this week, the Wall Street Journal has suggested that he may have stolen tens of thousands of dollars....” Lying to reduce his jail time! Watch father-in-law!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 18, 2019
Cohen is slated to testify before the House oversight committee next month.
Nathan Bernier contributed to this report.
