For months, the debate over impeachment had centered on the twin allegations that Mueller had spent more than two years investigating: a conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia to interfere in the 2016 election, and possible obstruction of justice by the president to halt Mueller’s inquiry. But his failure to pursue the president’s indictment or to explicitly recommend action by Congress has prompted some impeachment supporters to argue that there are juicier targets for the Judiciary Committee, namely Trump’s alleged efforts to personally profit from the presidency and his potential violation of the Constitution’s emoluments clause—the prohibition on federal officials receiving gifts or payments from foreign governments.

“The original sin of this president is converting the presidency into an instrument of self-enrichment,” said Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland, an impeachment backer and a former constitutional-law professor on the Judiciary Committee. In an interview, Raskin said that while the possible instances of obstruction of justice laid out in Mueller’s report were “terribly serious,” the allegations of corruption against the president—including his constant promotion of his properties around the world and their repeated patronage by foreign governments, federal agencies, and even the vice president—are “easily digestible” and “compelling.”

“The American people get that the president is not supposed to be holding office to get rich,” echoed Representative Madeleine Dean of Pennsylvania, another Democrat on the committee. “It is about payoffs, pardons, and profiteering.”