NEW YORK: President Donald Trump and judge Brett Kavanaugh could both face impeachment if the House of Representatives goes to the Democrats in the midterm elections, ABC News chief anchor George Stephanopoulos said at Advertising Week.
Stephanopoulos spoke with James Goldston, president of ABC News, during the "Breaking through the Noise: Straightforward News and the 2018 Midterm Elections" panel at Advertising Week New York on Monday morning.
"Think about the last 19 months," Stephanopoulos said. "President Trump has been aided by a real Republican guard. That all completely changes the day after the election if the Democrats take the house."
Stephanopoulos gave the Democrats a four-in-five chance of winning the House, with less favorable odds of taking the Senate. If they do, the effects would cascade through Washington, DC.
"Assuming the Democrats take the House, we’re likely to see several resignations and firings in the Justice Department and the White House, with [Attorney General Jeff] Sessions the most likely," he said. "It's not at all impossible that the Democrats might look at the possibility of impeaching Kavanaugh because of his credibility issues."
Stephanopoulos, who has closely covered Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian interference into the 2016 presidential election, said Mueller could make some news before the midterms.
"I’m not completely convinced Mueller won’t take any action before the midterms," he said. "It’s entirely possible he can indict someone like Roger Stone before the midterms. I think it’s still on the table. But it is much more likely that any report on the president most certainly won’t be released until after the midterms. The question is how soon after the midterms."
Stephanopoulos wasn’t the panel’s only prognosticator. Though reluctant to make a strong prediction, ABC News chief legal analyst Dan Abrams suggested that Kavanaugh’s path to a Supreme Court seat could become even more complicated, depending on whether the FBI takes a wide purview in its probe of his past conduct.
"What do they view as their mandate?"Abrams asked. "If it’s broad enough to say ‘Was Brett Kavanaugh truthful in everything he said?’ then that will take them in a lot of different directions."
