On Thursday, Nancy Pelosi stood by her position of not sending the articles of impeachment against Donald Trump until she sees that “the process that is set forth in the Senate.” Pelosi wants the details about how the trial will be laid out.
During her weekly press conference, Pelosi was asked if there is a risk that Republicans will say she is playing games by not turning over the articles of impeachment.
“We don’t know the arena that we’re in. Frankly, I don’t care what the Republicans say,” Pelosi said.
“We would hope there would be a fair process just as I hope they would honor the Constitution,” Pelosi stated. She then added that she was not going to discuss the issue further until she knew what Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will agree to.
Pelosi made it clear exactly what she needs to see from the Senate. Right now, it is not clear if Democrat’s demand for live witnesses will be a “deal-breaker.”
“In any event, we are ready. When we see what they have, we’ll know who, and how many [impeachment managers], we’ll send over. And that’s all I have to say on this now,” Pelosi shared.
While Pelosi was holding her press conference Trump was tweeting.
“Pelosi feels her phony impeachment HOAX is so pathetic she is afraid to present it to the Senate, which can set a date and put this whole SCAM into default if they refuse to show up! The Do Nothings are so bad for our Country!” Trump tweeted.
Pelosi feels her phony impeachment HOAX is so pathetic she is afraid to present it to the Senate, which can set a date and put this whole SCAM into default if they refuse to show up! The Do Nothings are so bad for our Country!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 19, 2019
“The Constitution’s framers suspected that we might have rogue president,” Pelosi shot back on Twitter. “I don’t think they suspected that we’d have a rogue president and a rogue leader in the Senate at the same time.”
When our Founders wrote the Constitution, they suspected we might one day have a rogue president. I doubt they thought we would have a rogue president and a rogue leader of the Senate at the same time. #DefendOurDemocracy pic.twitter.com/Qnm3lnIBtH
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) December 19, 2019
McConnell sought out reporters after Pelosi’s press conference and stated, “It’s beyond me how the speaker and the Democratic leader in the Senate think withholding the articles of impeachment and not sending them over gives them leverage – is beyond me. Frankly, I’m not anxious to have the trial, if she thinks her case is so weak she doesn’t want to send it over, throw me into that briar patch.”
After a 40-minute meeting with Pelosi on Thursday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer stated that he and Pelosi were united in their approach to impeachment.
“What she said was just right,” Schumer stated. “We are on the same page.”
Late on Thursday, McConnel confirmed that he had met with his Democratic counterpart to discuss how the trial would proceed and stated that they were at “an impasse.”
On Thursday, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy accused Pelosi of “admitting defeat” by not transmitting the impeachment articles to the Senate.
“She’s so embarrassed by it, she won’t send the papers over,” he said. “She’s admitting defeat by not sending it. By refusing to send impeachment over, she knows the outcome is not good.”
“At the end of the day the American public needs to move on,” he said.
“I would think that if Nancy Pelosi thought impeachment was so important … I thought she would have welcomed questions on impeachment,” he added
Pelosi also shared that the House wouldn’t name impeachment managers “until we see what the process will be on the Senate side.”
An official working on the Trump administration’s impeachment defense spoke with ABC News and stated that Pelosi was withholding the articles from the Senate was “a complete gimmick.”
