Washington, DC - 21 May 2019

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1. SOUNDBITE (English) Rep. Steve Cohen, (D) Tennessee:

"Mr. Amash (The House Republican who recently said President Trump committed impeachable offenses) was correct. It's good that he read the Mueller Report. We all need to read the Muller report. I have read the Muller report. It's a clear statement of misdeeds and illegal behavior by the president this administration which continues to this day and not allowing us to have witnesses come to the American people and let the American people know what went on."

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2. SOUNDBITE (English) Rep. Steve Cohen, (D) Tennessee

"I see a lot more people that believe that impeachable offenses occurred and would like to see an impeachment inquiry. They'd also like to see, as Speaker Pelosi would, that all the committees of jurisdiction proceed, and get all the information they need. But there's been a stonewalling by the administration of subpoenas, and the production of documents. Basically a cover-up. a la Richard Nixon."

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3. SOUNDBITE (English) Rep. Steve Cohen, (D) Tennessee

"I think Speaker Pelosi is looking out for the interests of the American people for democracy for truth and for the rule of law. She has a different way of getting there than I do. I wish we thought similarly."

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4. SOUNDBITE (English) Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, (D) Texas

"Today, in the next 48 hours, I'll be introducing a resolution of investigation. The opening comments in that resolution says that the Judiciary Committee will investigate whether sufficient grounds exist for the House of Representatives to exercise the power by Article 1, Section 2, Clause 5 of the Constitution, in respect to acts of impeachment of the president of the United States. We believe and continue to believe that we are doing the right thing by investigating, and that our task is to educate before we activate."

5. SOUNDBITE (English) Rep. Doug Collins, (R) Georgia

"The committee is basically at a time when they're undermining the very work of the committee. I'm someone who believes that congressional oversight, it's something we need to have, it is something that is very valuable, something that we have done for 200 plus years. However, when you abuse that process, when you abuse the committee process, as we have seen this year by rushing to subpoenas, not taking their accommodation process, and we've seen this from day one."

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6. SOUNDBITE (English) Rep. Doug Collins, (R) Georgia

"He talked about the parts that were salacious that he wanted to get out, but he didn't talk about the findings of the fact, very plainly in the text; no collusion, and there was no charged obstruction."

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7. SOUNDBITE (English) Rep. Doug Collins, (R) Georgia

"In areas where a legitimate oversight is happening, there is been cooperation between the administration, and between the committees of jurisdiction up on the Hill. The issue is coming is when they're rushing to speak, especially in our committee, and I'll speak only to the Judiciary committee, when we're no accommodation process. Nothing that we've seen before. When we saw it under George Bush administration, we saw it under President Obama's administration. This is a process, and I had a question a couple weeks ago. Somebody said, do you believe that this is all going to hinder Congress ability to do its job? No this is the way Congress has always done its job. But right now they've whipped it into a frenzy because they don't want to have accommodation because they want to rush straight from their one talking point that he did something wrong, we don't like it, to an end result, and it won't do anything else."

Calls appear to be growing among House Democrats for an impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump after former White House Counsel Don McGahn skipped a Judiciary Committee hearing on the Mueller report at the direction of the White House.

House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler gaveled open the hearing with an empty witness chair and a stern warning that McGahn will be held in contempt for failing to appear in defiance of the committee's subpoena..

"I see a lot more people that believe that impeachable offenses occurred and would like to see an impeachment inquiry," said Tennessee Democrat Rep. Steve Cohen.

"In the next 48 hours, I'll be introducing a resolution of investigation," said Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, a second panel member.

"We are doing the right thing by investigating, and that our task is to educate before we activate," she said.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, backed by Nadler, is taking a step-by-step approach to the confrontations with Trump.

Nadler said the committee would vote to hold McGahn in contempt, and take the issue to court.

But Pelosi's strategy hasn't been swift enough for some members of the Judiciary panel who feel Democrats should be more aggressive and launch a formal impeachment inquiry as they try to get information from the administration.

Impeachment hearings would give Democrats more standing in court and could stop short of a vote to remove the president.

The issue was raised in a meeting among top Democrats Monday evening, where some members confronted Pelosi about it, according to three people familiar with the private conversation who requested anonymity to discuss it.

GOP Rep. Doug Collins, the ranking Republican on the committee, accused Democrats of rushing to issue subpoenas and abusing the judiciary panel's oversight responsibilities.

"Right now, they've whipped it into a frenzy because they don't want to have accommodation," Collins said.