Maxine Waters says Trump 'needs to be imprisoned' and put in 'solitary confinement'

"I'm calling on the GOP to stop Trump's filthy talk of whistleblowers being spies & using mob language implying they should be killed," Waters tweeted. "Impeachment is not good enough for Trump. He needs to be imprisoned & placed in solitary confinement."

"But for now, impeachment is the imperative," she added.

Speaking to CNN's Anderson Cooper on "Anderson Cooper 360" Wednesday night, Waters stood by her tweet and maintained that focus should remain on Trump's actions.

"Most people who have watched me over the past two years know that I am a responsible person who has talked about the Constitution, who has talked about the fact that this President does not respect the fact that (Russian President Vladimir) Putin is responsible for basically bugging our electoral system, hacking into the DNC. They know that I've been serious about this. I've had the courage to stand up when nobody else would stand with me," Waters said.

"So people know that I'm responsible and that I'm serious and, like I said, that impeachment is the imperative. That's how I ended the sentence, so that's what should be focused on," she said of her tweet. "And don't forget: Focus on Trump and the fact that he's talking about a civil war. Everybody should be frightened about that."

Waters' extreme rhetoric comes amid intense interest in a whistleblower complaint released this past week that alleged Trump abused his official powers "to solicit interference" from Ukraine in the 2020 election and that the White House took steps to cover it up. Trump has denied any wrongdoing.

A rough transcript released by the White House shows Trump repeatedly pushed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Biden, Trump's potential 2020 political rival, and his son Hunter Biden.

There is no evidence of wrongdoing by Joe or Hunter Biden.

In the days since the public release of the complaint, Trump has repeatedly attacked the anonymous whistleblower, asserting that he deserves to "meet my accuser." The Presiden said last week that whoever provided the whistleblower with information about his call with Zelensky is "close to a spy," and said that in the old days spies were dealt with differently.

Waters tweeted later Tuesday that "Trump has corrupted so many members of his admin."

"The lies, coverups, shaking down foreign countries & undermining our democracy will be recorded as one of the worst periods in the history of our country, all led by a dishonorable con man," she said. "Follow the facts, impeachment on the way."

Waters has previously gone further than her Democratic colleagues in rebuking Trump. In 2018, she called on her supporters to publicly confront members of the Trump administration in response to the "zero tolerance" policy that led to the separation of families at the border.

"Let's make sure we show up wherever we have to show up. And if you see anybody from that Cabinet in a restaurant, in a department store, at a gasoline station, you get out and you create a crowd. And you push back on them," she said at the time. "And you tell them they're not welcome anymore, anywhere. We've got to get the children connected to their parents."

This story has been updated with additional comments from Waters on Wednesday.

CNN's Jamie Ehrlich contributed to this report.

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