Ken Starr: Pelosi's impeachment push a 'completely outrageous' abuse of power
Former Independent Counsel Ken Starr expresses shock after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announces Democrats will proceed with articles of impeachment against President Trump.
Congressional Democrats have pushed too hard on President Trump's impeachment hearings and may force Republican senators to dismiss the case altogether, said former special prosecutor Ken Starr on Thursday.
Starr appeared on "The Brian Kilmeade Show" on Fox News Radio to discuss the impeachment inquiry and said he was shocked by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's, D-Calif., "abuse of power."
"It's an outrage to seize control of the deliberate process of a committee -- [it] simply compounds a series of very, very terrible abuses," he said. "The House Judiciary committee with its incredibly rich history needs to go into... an open session and debate this."
"Where did she get this power?" Starr asked. "I am honestly surprised. Then again, why shouldn't I be surprised? Because back early in the fall, she unilaterally with no debate in the people's House says, 'we now have an impeachment inquiry.' Now she's dictating the committee to actually draft articles of impeachment? It is an abuse of power."
Pelosi announced on Thursday that House Democrats would proceed with articles of impeachment against the president because his conduct, "leaves us no choice but to act."
"Today, I am asking our chairman to proceed with articles of impeachment," Pelosi stated during her brief address, referring to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y. "The president's actions have seriously violated the Constitution."
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Starr said this impeachment effort is unique because it lacks bipartisan support, and predicted the Senate GOP may dismiss the case entirely rather than move to a trial.
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He noted that 31 Democrats supported the Bill Clinton impeachment inquiry and in the case of Richard Nixon, he was facing a united House of Representatives before he resigned.
"Just the opposite of what we're experiencing now. A strict party-line vote," said Starr, adding that Pelosi is acting to achieve her desired political outcome.
"I think this may lead to a [Senate] motion to dismiss, which I don't favor. If the House of Representatives says we're going to impeach, then the Senate should hold a trial. But I think this may be the straw that breaks the camel's back. And that Republicans in the Senate just rise up in righteous indignation and say, 'this is absolutely unacceptable.'"