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epending on whom you want to believe, the investigation of special counsel Robert Mueller is either wrapping up with a damning report sans charges or ramping up to a final conclusion that will likely include jail time for key figures in President Trump’s orbit.

Last week, court filings revealed that former national security advisor Michael Flynn is “providing significant information” to the Mueller probe, that Paul Manafort, President Trump’s former campaign manager, told “five principal lies” to investigators, and that Michael Cohen, the president’s former personal lawyer, is likely facing a substantial prison term.

We spoke to Rep. Jamie Raskin, a liberal Democrat representing Maryland’s eighth district, and Matthew Brooks, national executive director of the Republican Jewish Coalition, to get their take on the latest developments.

Matthew Brooks

Do you think President Trump has anything to worry about?

“Look, the fact is you’ve got a number of folks who have demonstrated that there are bad actors who have done things they are now being held accountable for. It’s clear that there are folks who think that this ultimately will involve the president. The president has made very clear that it doesn’t. But at the end of the day this president continues, from our community’s perspective, to do so many important and incredible things. Just this week, with all this other stuff going on, [he encouraged] the United Nations resolution condemning Hamas. And no other administration has been as aggressive and leading on these kinds of issues as President Trump has.”

Rep. Jamie Raskin

What is your take on the latest developments in the Mueller probe?

“His former national security advisor is going to jail. His former campaign chairman is going to jail. His personal lawyer is going to jail. So it looks like the house of cards is collapsing all around him. Some of the pleas in New York demonstrate, or at least suggest for the first time, that he was directly involved in a criminal conspiracy to circumvent the campaign finance laws. I think almost any other president would be gone by now, but he seems absolutely impervious to the criticism and the controversy.”

As a Democratic member of Congress, do you think you’re getting close to impeachment territory?

“If the Republicans were in charge and he were a Democrat, they would clearly impeach him. But in the American system, the House of Representatives brings articles of impeachment, while the Senate must convict. The Republicans control the Senate, so we’re not in any hurry to get into that.”

“There’s also a growing feeling among the Democrats that impeachment is too good for the Republican Party at this point. If we impeach President Trump, we’re doing the Republicans a big favor by removing their biggest problem. But [as things stand] they have pretty much made their bed and they’re going to have to lie in it at least for a while.”

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 739)