Former Texas congressman and 2020 hopeful Beto O’Rourke delivered a fiery speech against President Donald Trump on Saturday, accusing him of attempting to collude with Russia.
“You have a president, who in my opinion beyond the shadow of a doubt, sought to, however ham-handedly, collude with the Russian government ― a foreign power ― to undermine and influence our elections, the sanctity of the ballot box, the ability for each and every single one of us to make informed decisions about those who seek to represent us and hold positions of public trust,” the Democrat said on the campaign trail in Charleston, South Carolina.
O’Rourke argued Trump’s ousting of former FBI Director James Comey is one of the signs that he “sought to obstruct justice,” pointing also to the president’s tweet last August calling on then Attorney General Jeff Sessions to stop special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe.
On Friday, Mueller turned his report in to Attorney General William Barr, who is weighing whether and how much of it to make public.
O’Rourke, in addition to a handful of lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, has demanded the findings be released.
During a CBS News interview last week, O’Rourke avoided directly saying whether he stood by a previous remark he made in support of impeachment for Trump.
Instead, he said the matter “is up to” Congress, and to voters too.
“I think the American people are going to have a chance to decide this at the ballot box in November 2020, and perhaps that’s the best way for us to resolve these outstanding questions,” O’Rourke said.
Igor Bobic contributed reporting.