'If you don't impeach -- I don't get what this is for': Obama administration lawyer

The former Solicitor General to President Barack Obama doesn't get why Democrats wouldn't impeach President Donald Trump.

During special coverage by Ari Melber Sunday, Neal Katyal explained that without impeachment, this 22-month long investigation was essentially for nothing.

"So, I agree with the idea that there is a short-term political victory," he said. "Barr did say two things that are crucial: They are on pages 1 and 2. Number one, Mueller says even if Trump were guilty as sin, I couldn't indict him because of these two Justice Department opinions. And as such, I'm not going to potentially incriminate him in the report. So that's number one. And number two he says if the evidence shows that Trump committed no crimes and was clear as day, then I will exonerate him. And Mueller does neither. As then as we'll be talking about over the next couple of hours, the report paints a devastating picture of the president."

He noted that he's heard Republicans say that the public isn't behind impeachment, but he suspects it's because the Barr pre-spin press conference with the four-page memo caused a lot of confusion. As the actual report becomes available and the news spreads about it, Americans may very well change their tune.

"Now the public has this long report before it," he noted. "And I think Mueller bet on the public. He bet on the faith of the public that they will read this report. They will look at it. They will look through these devastating details about what the president has done, and the president has gotten away with a lot of stuff for the last two years from Charlottesville to taxes to trade and lying and all that. Here you have people, witnesses, including the president's staunch allies like his White House counsel, implicating the president in the commission of crimes. It will be much harder for him to dismiss. I think there is only one course of action for the Congress to take ultimately, and it is going to be to impeach this president."

Melber noted it was surprising to hear that coming out of Katyal, who is considered to be a voice for the "establishment."

"I was just going to say, I mean, if, you know, the report and the devastating details in it are so strong that if you don't impeach and don't launch an investigation over this, I don't know what it's for at the end of the day," he said. "Nixon wasn't even close to what this report says."

Watch his full take below: