Bill Clinton On Trump Impeachment: 'Just Do Your Job,' Ignore Process

Former President Bill Clinton advised President Trump on Thursday to ignore impeachment proceedings on Capitol Hill and instead to focus on the job “you got hired to do.”

In an interview on CNN, Clinton, who was impeached by the House in 1998 but acquitted by the Senate, advised Trump to let his staff handle the impeachment inquiry, the public phase of which got underway Wednesday.

"Look, you got hired to do a job. You don't get to -- every day's an opportunity to make something good happen," Clinton said. "And I would say, 'I've got lawyers and staff people handling this impeachment inquiry and they should just have at it. Meanwhile, I'm going to work for the American people.' That's what I would do."

Trump said Wednesday he had not watched any of Wednesday’s public testimony and continued to characterize the investigation as a “sham,” “a hoax” and a “witch hunt.” He tweeted Thursday that after Wednesday’s testimony, “normal people” would end the inquiry.

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1194946652223746048

House impeachment investigators are trying to determine whether Trump abused the power of his office by trying to use military aid to Ukraine to pressure the former Soviet republic into ginning up evidence against former Vice President Joe Biden that he could use in a re-election campaign.

Trump is fixated on the identity of the whistleblower whose complaint about a July 25 phone call Trump had with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky triggered the investigation. Trump asked Zelensky in that phone call, which he describes as “perfect,” to do him a favor and announce investigations into Biden, his son, Hunter, and a debunked conspiracy theory that Ukraine, not Russia, interfered in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

In the Senate, some Republicans mulled whether to stage a lengthy impeachment trial beginning in January to make it more difficult for Democrats participating in the presidential primaries. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is reportedly facing pressure from conservatives who want a swift end to the impeachment process.

“That might be a strategy,” Sen. Ron Johnson , R-Wis., told the Washington Post when asked about drawing out the proceedings. “But I’ll leave that up to others. I’m just a lowly worker.”

A lengthy trial could prove problematic to Democratic presidential hopefuls, Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders and Kamala Harris.

“But there’s no question it will make our life a little bit more difficult,” Sanders said when asked about the prospect during an appearance Sunday in Charles City, Iowa.