Democrats have to look at impeachment ‘even if they don’t want to’: Former solicitor general

Congressional Democrats may be forced to initiate impeachment proceeding against President Donald Trump following Thursday's bombshell revelations about his lying over his dealings with Russia.

Neal Katyal, former acting Solicitor General of the United States during the Obama administration, explained the dynamics to MSNBC's Chris Hayes on Thursday.

"So I think -- you know, the facts aren't all in -- but I think we very well could look back on this day, November 29, 2018, as the beginning of the end of the Trump presidency," Katyal explained.

Katyal explained the significance of special counsel Robert Mueller's latest conviction of Trump fixer Michael Cohen.

"And I say that for three reasons. One, what we've been talking about, the criminal stuff Mueller has on Trump," he explained.

"There are two other important things going on. [Two] is the House investigation," he continued. "Now the House is controlled by Democrats, they'll be able to investigate all of these lies to Congress."

"And [three] is, even if the Democrats don't want to do it, impeachment," Katyal noted. 'They almost are going to have to look at it very, very seriously now because this isn't just criminal, this is the president campaigning in 2016, and hiding all of his negotiations with Russia."

House Speaker-designate Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has repeatedly resisted calls to impeach Trump.

In the exit polls of the 2018 midterm election, 77 percent of self-identified Democrats supported impeaching Trump.

Overall, 40 percent of voters supported impeachment.

In March of 1974, two months before House Democrats initiated impeachment proceedings against President Richard Nixon, a Harris poll found 43 percent of Americans supported impeaching him.

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