GOP congressmen, asked about impeachment, warn of ‘constitutional crisis’ if Clinton wins

The outcome of the 2016 election won’t be decided for another six days, but the topic of impeaching Hillary Clinton if she wins is already a topic of discussion on conservative talk radio. Several Republican congressmen have been asked this week about a potential Clinton impeachment if she were indicted as a result of an FBI investigation into her emails; all of them warned of a “constitutional crisis” if Clinton were to be elected. Their answers mirror what Donald Trump has being saying on the campaign trail. At a rally Monday, Trump warned of the “very possibility of constitutional crisis” and said if Clinton were elected, she would face criminal investigations and possibly a trial. Texas Rep. Michael McCaul ‏on Fox News Wednesday explicitly mentioned the possibility of impeachment. “Assuming she wins, and the investigation goes forward, and it looks like an indictment is pending, at that point in time, under the Constitution, the House of Representatives would engage in an impeachment trial,” McCaul said. “They would go to the Senate and impeachment proceedings and removal would take place.” “I would hate to see this country being thrown into a constitutional crisis because of Hillary Clinton’s behavior,” he added. ‏Wisconsin Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner told conservative radio host Charlie Sykes Tuesday that there would be a “constitutional crisis” if Clinton was indicted, and when asked about impeachment, answered, “I think that is something that is speculative in nature. I’m speculating, what I can say is that I think Richard Nixon would have been indicted and he would have been impeached. He stopped the impeachment by resigning as a result of Watergate and he stopped the indictment by President Ford pardoning him.” New York Rep. Peter King offered a similar response when speaking on Long Island local radio Tuesday morning. “There’s been nothing like this where you can have potential criminal charges,” King said on “L.I. in the AM.” Asked about impeachment, King responded investigations could drag on into Clinton’s term as president. “You really could have a constitutional crisis here,” King said. Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas appeared on Sean Hannity’s radio show Monday, where he agreed that a potential Clinton administration is heading towards impeachment and investigations. “You put your finger on it: we would really have a constitutional crisis,” Gohmert said after Hannity said a Clinton presidency would likely be headed towards impeachment. “We’ve never had anyone under this type of investigation at the top of the election. There’s nobody to blame but Hillary.” Republican Sen. Ron Johnson from Wisconsin also said Clinton could be impeached in an interview Tuesday with a local newspaper, and Libertarian presidential nominee Gary Johnson said in a radio interview over the weekend that she may be headed for impeachment.