On the other hand, even put together, the Green, Sherman, and Cohen articles are pretty thin gruel. Yes, the Comey matter would likely be part of any Democratic impeachment articles, but Democrats would certainly want to throw in additional reasons why Trump should be removed. They would certainly want to include, for example, the allegation made by federal prosecutors in New York that Trump violated campaign finance law by not reporting a hush money payment to Stormy Daniels. It’s a difficult legal argument, but House Democrats don’t need to convict the president in a court of law; they just need to give senators a reason to vote for removal. Beyond that, it seems unlikely — although there’s no way to say for sure at this point — that Democrats would try to remove Trump for tweeting about judges and bashing the press.

Part of the Democratic leadership’s dismay at Rep. Tlaib’s remark is that it might direct attention to the lawmakers who are currently advocating impeachment, and the actual content of the articles they have filed. Is that what the party wants? Green, Sherman, Cohen, et al are on the fringes of the Democratic caucus. But at some point, the big Democratic guns will take over the impeachment effort, and the public will see how serious they are about removing the president.