Democrats are calling for Trump's impeachment after bombshell report alleging he instructed Cohen to lie to Congress

Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

Then-Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump listens as his personal attorney Michael Cohen delivers remarks on his behalf during a campaign stop at the New Spirit Revival Center church in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, U.S. September 21, 2016.

• Democrats are discussing impeaching President Donald Trump after a bombshell BuzzFeed News report.
• The report claimed Trump told his former personal lawyer Michael Cohen to lie to Congress. 
• Many Democratic members of Congress took to Twitter to say that if the allegations are true then Trump should resign or be impeached. 

There were growing calls on Friday from Democrats for impeachment proceedings to begin against President Donald Trump after a bombshell BuzzFeed News report alleging he told his former longtime lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen to lie to Congress. 

The BuzzFeed News story claimed two federal investigators said Cohen told them the president told him to be dishonest in his testimony to Congress on his involvement in an ultimately failed plan to build Trump Tower in Moscow during the 2016 presidential campaign season.

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Multiple Democratic members of Congress and other prominent figures associated with the party have discussed the prospect of impeachment in the wake of the article, which was published on Thursday evening. 

Democratic Rep. Joaquin Castro of Texas, who sits on the House Intelligence Committee on Friday tweeted, "If the @BuzzFeed story is true, President Trump must resign or be impeached."

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Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley echoed Castro, tweeting, "If this report of Trump suborning false testimony is confirmed, then Trump committed a felony and must resign or be impeached."

Democratic Rep. John Yarmuth in an almost identical tweet said, "If true, which it appears to be, the @BuzzFeedNews report that Trump suborned perjury is an impeachable offense, and the House should begin the process."

Similarly, former Attorney General Eric Holder in a tweet on the BuzzFeed News article said that if the allegations are true then "Congress must begin impeachment proceedings." Holder, who's signaled that he might run for president in 2020, added that this is a "potential inflection point."

Meanwhile, in a discussion on the allegations with CNN former acting Solicitor General Neal said, "If these facts are corroborated ... I don't see how Congress can do anything else but commence an investigation into impeachment."

Some Democrats were less direct in their reactions, but still called for the allegations to be promptly investigated.

This includes House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Schiff, who tweeted, "The allegation that the President of the United States may have suborned perjury before our committee in an effort to curtail the investigation and cover up his business dealings with Russia is among the most serious to date. We will do what's necessary to find out if it's true."

Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu of California, who sits on the House Judiciary Committee, in a tweet said the BuzzFeed News report and "numerous other articles" seemed to show Trump committed obstruction of justice and other possible felonies. He said it is therefore time for "the House Judiciary Committee to start holding hearings to establish a record of whether @POTUS committed high crimes."

Read more: Federal prosecutors are blowing holes through all of Trump's defenses in the Michael Cohen case

Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, who's been pegged as a potential 2020 candidate, in a tweet called on special counsel Robert Mueller to let Congress know "ASAP" if he's got "multiple sources confirming Trump directed Cohen to lie to Congress." Mueller is investigating Russian election interference and the Trump campaign's alleged collusion. 

Murphy added, "Mueller shouldn't end his inquiry, but it's about time for him to show Congress his cards before it's too late for us to act."