GOP strategist calls for impeachment: Mueller exposed 'high crimes and misdemeanors' -- and Americans need to see that on TV

The Mueller report clearly lays out a case of obstruction against President Donald Trump, and one veteran Republican strategist said the only way to alert all Americans is through impeachment proceedings.

Special counsel Robert Mueller examined at least 11 instances of Trump obstructing justice in the investigation of his campaign ties to Russia, but the report is simply too long and too dense for much of the public to read in its entirely -- although the evidence is clear, wrote GOP strategist Cheri Jacobus for The Daily Beast.

She spools out a summary of the instances of obstruction Mueller describes -- based on testimony by former White House officials Hope Hicks and Don McGahn, former campaign official Corey Lewandowski and acting NSA head Mike Rogers -- that Attorney General Bill Barr downplayed or cherry-picked to suggest that Trump had been cleared of wrongdoing.

The truth, Jacobus said, is much more alarming but remains hidden within the report's imposing length.

"Polls show that Americans who read the Mueller report support impeaching Trump, while those who have not believe Barr’s wild misrepresentation of it," she wrote. "This is a problem, since it’s not reasonable to expect most citizens to read a two-volume, 448-page report."

"However," Jacobus added, "it is more than reasonable — a sure thing, in fact — that dozens of millions of Americans would be glued to their TV to watch live, unfiltered impeachment hearings. And, as happened in the Nixon hearings, that Trump’s approval numbers would plummet as his erstwhile supporters realized they’ve been duped and lied to."

Democrats shouldn't have to spend millions of dollars in campaign money making a case for removing the president when taxpayers have already paid for Mueller's investigation, Jacobus argued, and Congress holds a constitutional duty to conduct oversight of potential wrongdoing in the executive branch.

"There’s a reason why Rush Limbaugh and Fox News hosts are instructing the Trump cult not to read the redacted report," Jacobus wrote. "It clearly shows high crimes and misdemeanors on the part of the president."

Jacobus doesn't buy the arguments that impeachment would hurt Democrats in the 2020 campaign cycle, saying Trump's base gets energized by almost anything he does, but would instead motivate the Democratic base, independents and #NeverTrump Republicans.

She also doesn't see as much risk as the naysayers who point out that a Republican Senate would never convict Trump even if the Democratic House votes to impeach, because it would badly wound the president -- and maybe even drive him from office.

"They may force Trump to resign — as Nixon did — so they don’t have to face a trial and have that vote hanging around their 2020 necks with 22 GOP Senate seats to defend," Jacobus argued.

"In an era and season of wild scenarios being the norm," she added, "how wild would it be if the only way Trump avoids prosecution is if the GOP Senate convicts him so that he can be pardoned by a President Pence? It may ultimately prove to be his only exit ramp."