McCarthy dismisses Democrat’s plans: ‘Show me where the president did anything to be impeached’

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Sunday dismissed the Democratic House Judiciary Committee chairman’s plans to investigate whether President Trump merits impeachment, saying “there’s nothing that the president did wrong.”

“Show me where the president did anything to be impeached,” McCarthy said on ABC’s “This Week.”

“I think Congressman Nadler decided to impeach the president the day the president won the election,” he added.

NEW: House Minority leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy responds to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jerry Nader on @ThisWeekABC: “I think congressman Nadler decided to impeach the president the day the president won the election.” https://t.co/YaWpzth66u pic.twitter.com/RdKHFS8MzN

— ABC News (@ABC) March 3, 2019

{mosads}Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) said earlier on the Sunday show that “it’s very clear that the president obstructed justice.” He added that before Democrats could seek impeachment proceedings against the president, they need to “persuade the American public that it ought to happen.”

“We do not now have the evidence all sorted out to do the impeachment,” he told ABC.

He said his committee is starting its own investigation on Monday in order to find and lay out the necessary evidence to the American public, but denied that it is specifically an “impeachment investigation.”

BREAKING: @GStephanopoulos: “Do you think the president obstructed justice?”

House judiciary chairman Jerry Nadler: “Yes, I do. It’s very clear that the president obstructed justice” https://t.co/YaWpzth66u pic.twitter.com/m7TiPwAKyo

— ABC News (@ABC) March 3, 2019

“Listen to what Nadler said. Nadler’s setting the framework now for the Democrats not to believe [special counsel Robert Mueller’s] report. They’re now saying we have to do our own investigation,” McCarthy responded. “After you had hundreds of interviews, millions of dollars spent in the Senate and House and they find no collusion.”

Running alongside Mueller’s probe, the Senate and House Intelligence committees have their own investigations into Russia’s election interference. The House concluded their investigation with no evidence of collusion last year, although Intelligence Committee Democrats disputed the result. Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.) said earlier this year that, two years into their probe, they have seen no evidence of collusion. The ranking Democratic member of the panel also disputed that summary.

Nadler in saying his committee would launch an investigation added that “we can’t depend on the Mueller investigation for this … [because] No. 1, we don’t know when it’s ending. Despite lots of rumors. No. 2, it’s focused on specific crimes, and we have to focus much more broadly on abuses of power.”

“And the Justice Department has made clear in the last few weeks that it may hide from the American people the conclusions of the Mueller investigation,” he added.

He noted that specific crimes and impeachable offenses are two different things.

“Impeachment is a long way down the road, we don’t have the facts yet, but we’re going to initiate proper investigations,” he said.

Democratic leadership has been hesitant to pursue impeachment proceedings against Trump and have urged their party to focus on the business of governing rather than going after the president.

— Updated 10:30 a.m.