White House critical of House Democrats seeking possible new Trump impeachment in middle of pandemic

'As President Trump worked yesterday to combat the coronavirus and help Americans hurting due to the pandemic, what were House Democrats doing?'

By Carrie Sheffield

Published: May 19, 2020 11:23am

Updated: May 20, 2020 4:09pm

The White House is hitting back at House Democrats' plan to seek a possible new impeachment of President Trump while the country struggles to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

"As President Trump worked yesterday to combat the coronavirus and help Americans hurting due to the pandemic, what were House Democrats doing?" White House press official Austin Mitchell said Tuesday in an email that linked to a story about House Democrats' plans.

Mitchell spoke hours after House Democrats' Supreme Court filing that reportedly states that "'new articles of impeachment" could be filed against President Trump if they can first review documents from Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe.

The filing seeks to obtain redacted grand jury material from Mueller’s probe to fulfill an "ongoing presidential impeachment investigation" in their "weighty constitutional responsibility," as reported by Fox News on Monday.

"The [House Judiciary] Committee’s investigation did not cease with the conclusion of the impeachment trial," the Democrats wrote in their filing. "If this material reveals new evidence supporting the conclusion that President Trump committed impeachable offenses that are not covered by the articles adopted by the House, the committee will proceed accordingly – including, if necessary, by considering whether to recommend new articles of impeachment."

Democrats claimed they were investigating "the possible exercise of improper political influence over recent decisions made in the Roger Stone and Michael Flynn prosecutions, both of which were initiated by the special counsel."

The House has already conducted an impeachment trial on Trump, voting for an impeachment of the president. The Senate rejected the impeachment and voted to acquit the president of allegations that he improperly interacted with the president of the Ukraine in order to boost Trump's own domestic re-election

The Justice Department earlier this month, recommended a federal judge reverse the conviction of Flynn, who was Trump's national security adviser, and drop the criminal charges, a stunning reversal in a case that became a powerful symbol of FBI misconduct in the Russia investigation.