Now that the House Judiciary Committee is actively considering articles of impeachment against the president, it faces a challenge of how to conduct that inquiry in the face of continued obstruction by the White House. The Committee is rightly going to court to obtain documents and compel critical witnesses to testify, but that process will take time to play out. However, as the Chairman himself recently noted, the Committee does not need to wait to start hearings and call witnesses. The Mueller report provides a long list of potential witnesses that cannot cite executive privilege and are physically located in the United States. These witnesses can, and should, be called before the committee without delay.

Despite Attorney General Bill Barr’s redactions and spin, it is clear that the report by Special Counsel Robert Mueller should be considered an impeachment referral for obstruction of justice by the President of the United States, akin to Watergate Special Prosecutor Leon Jaworski’s “roadmap” detailing troubling actions by President Richard Nixon.

President Trump’s own intelligence chiefs and Department of Justice have laid out in stark terms the enormous scope of the Russian attack on our democracy, and made clear that it continues as we speak. National Intelligence Director Dan Coats told the Senate Intelligence Committee, "Frankly, the United States is under attack," adding that "there should be no doubt that [Putin] views the past effort as successful.” Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein discussed Russia’s “informational warfare against the United States,” resulting in indictments of 13 Russian individuals and 3 Russian businesses, detailing a sprawling million-dollar-a-month campaign to sow discord in America and support the election of President Trump.

The Russia investigation has entered a new phase, which requires progressives to adopt a new approach. The recent indictments and plea agreement involving Trump campaign officials make clear that the investigation into Russia’s coordination with the Trump campaign is serious, further along than most perceived, and will be a major issue throughout 2018.

The Russia investigation has entered a new phase, which requires progressives to adopt a new approach. The recent indictments and plea agreement involving Trump campaign officials make clear that the investigation into Russia’s coordination with the Trump campaign is serious, further along than most perceived, and will be a major issue throughout 2018.