John Oliver makes case to impeach Trump: 'People are dying to see it happen'

In a lengthy segment, the late night host laid out his case for why the US president could be impeached

John Oliver hosting 'Last Week Tonight' (HBO)

John Oliver has laid out his case for impeaching US president Donald Trump and said people are “dying” to see it happen.

According to the Last Week Tonight host, the subject has become a major talking point among House Democrats, with 63 per cent supporting impeachment.

During a segment on the show that aired on 16 June, Oliver explained how impeachment does not guarantee removal from office.

The process begins with the House of Representatives, where it moves to the Senate if a majority vote by the House of Representatives finds that there are impeachable offences. Grounds for impeachment include treason, bribery, high crimes and misdemeanours, and obstruction of justice.

Oliver then reminded his audience that Don McGahn told investigators he had been instructed to fire special counsel Robert Mueller, after which Trump released a statement denying he had.

“The president obstructed justice, then obstructed justice again to try to obstruct the investigation into his obstruction of justice — it’s ridiculous!” Oliver said.

“If a president can shut down an investigation into himself and if a president could shut down an investigation he can basically do anything with no consequences — it’s a big deal.”

“I can’t guarantee that impeachment will work out the way you want it to because it probably won’t,” he concluded, “but that doesn’t mean that it’s not worth doing because if nothing else, we’d be standing by the basic fundamental principle that nobody is above the law.”