Political Wire

Pelosi Speech Met with Cries of ‘Impeach’

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Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) was met with chants of “impeach” during her remarks at the California Democratic Party’s convention on Saturday, The Hill reports.

“While discussing what special counsel Robert Mueller’s report showcased and what President Trump could be ‘covering up,’ shouts of ‘impeach’ began to ring out. The shouts grew somewhat louder as she called for investigating Trump’s ‘welcoming of the assault on our democracy.'”

Washington Post: “The party’s deep divisions, refreshed when last week’s remarks by former special counsel Robert Mueller raised new questions about whether Trump had committed impeachable violations, played out time and again during the first full day of the weekend convention as they have across the nation.”

Pelosi Says Trump Wants to Be Impeached

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Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said that President Trump actually wants to be impeached because he believes the Republican-controlled Senate would bail him out, ABC News reports.

Said Pelosi: “I think the president wants us to impeach him. He knows it’s not a good idea to be impeached, but the silver lining for him is then, he believes, that he would be exonerated by the United States Senate.”

She added: “And, there is a school of thought that says, ‘If the Senate acquits you, why bring charges against him in the private sector when he’s no longer president?’ So when we go through with our case, it’s got to be ironclad. Ironclad.”

Why Pelosi Is So Good at Infuriating Trump

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“Something about Nancy Pelosi just gets under Donald Trump’s skin,” Politico reports.

“On Wednesday, for the third time in barely six months, a meeting between Trump, the speaker and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer blew up in a spectacular fashion.”

“And in each case, Trump handed Pelosi a huge gift, a priceless moment that helped unify the Democratic Caucus behind her at a crucial time.”

Washington Post: “Usually, when President Trump is really steamed, he vents his spleen over a morning of disjointed tweets — a slow-mo meltdown. On Wednesday, it was the live-action movie version — on fast forward.”

Barr to Pelosi: ‘Did You Bring Your Handcuffs?’

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Attorney General William Barr joked with Speaker Nancy Pelosi about Democrats calling for his arrest, The Hill reports.

The exchange — which comes a week after the House Judiciary Committee voted to hold Barr in contempt over subpoenas related to the Mueller report — took place as they were waiting for President Trump.

Said a bystander:

As those seated on the platform waited for the president’s arrival in an adjacent tent, Attorney General Barr approached Speaker Pelosi, shook her hand and said loudly, “Madam Speaker, did you bring your handcuffs?”

The Speaker, not missing a beat, smiled and indicated to the attorney general that the House sergeant-at-arms was present at the ceremony should an arrest be necessary. The attorney general chuckled and walked away.

‘He’s Becoming Self-Impeachable’

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Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that President Trump is building his own case for impeachment by continuing to stonewall lawmakers in their demand for testimony and documents from the White House, Politico reports.

Said Pelosi: “He’s becoming self-impeachable in terms of some of the things he’s doing.”

She added: “Every single day, whether it’s obstruction, obstruction, obstruction, obstruction of having people come to the table with facts or ignoring subpoenas. Every single day, the president is making a case.”

Pelosi Issues Impeachment Warning

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Speaker Nancy Pelosi warned that the Trump administration’s defiance of subpoenas could be an impeachable offense, even as the top White House lawyer instructed his predecessor not to comply with a subpoena from House Democrats, Bloomberg reports.

Pelosi noted that one of the articles of impeachment against President Nixon was based on ignoring subpoenas from Congress.

Said Pelosi: “That could be part of an impeachable offense… Every day he’s obstructing justice by saying this one should testify, that one shouldn’t testify.”

Pelosi Says Barr Lied to Congress

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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that Attorney General William Barr lied to Congress, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Said Pelosi: “What is deadly serious about it is the attorney general of the United States of America was not telling the truth to the Congress of the United States. That’s a crime. … He lied to Congress. And if anybody else did that, it would be considered a crime. Nobody is above the law. Not the president of the United States, and not the attorney general.”

She added that President Trump’s statement that he will not honor any subpoenas from Congress is obstruction of justice.

Politico: “Pelosi also told her colleagues at the caucus meeting that she couldn’t sleep Wednesday night after watching Barr’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee.”

Pelosi Says Impeachment Hearings Are Not Necessary

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Speaker Nancy Pelosi “appeared to tap the brakes on impeachment discussions, arguing in a letter to her colleagues that while Democrats would hold President Trump accountable following the release of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report, they could do so without initiating impeachment hearings,” the Washington Post reports.

Pelosi, who is slated to address her caucus on a conference call Monday evening, vowed that Democratic investigators “will scrupulously assert Congress’s constitutional duty to honor our oath of office to support and defend the Constitution and our democracy” by investigating the president.

Pelosi Intends to Lock Down Majority This Year

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Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she intends to lock down the 2020 House election a year in advance, “stressing the importance of recruiting candidates who can unseat GOP incumbents in swing districts,” The Hill reports.

Said Pelosi: “I intend to have this election won by this November, because by a year in advance, that’s when people decide they’re going to run for office. We want the message to be clear, we will retain the majority, we will grow the majority and will do so because our candidates are doing their constituent work. We are, again, owning the ground, drilling down with our message, having the resources to win.”

She added: “So if you are Republican who might be thinking about running for Congress, you have to look at the strength of the person you want to unseat. And if you’re a member of Congress, and you’re a Republican, and you’re deciding that you might be ready for retirement, you may have to remember that it’s going to cost you a lot of money to win or to lose. But if you win, you will be serving in the minority.”

Pelosi Outlines Path to Victory In 2020

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“Barely three months into her second turn in charge, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has already mapped out a plan to overwhelm Republicans in the 2020 elections,” the Washington Post reports.

Said Pelosi: “I’m going to have our races won by this November.”

“Yes, the House speaker predicted that she will have locked down the majority a full year ahead of schedule, leaving the political battlefield to what she considers an intense presidential race all the way up to November 2020.”

Pelosi Skeptical of ‘Medicare for All’

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Speaker Nancy Pelosi “questioned whether a health-care proposal embraced by several Democratic presidential candidates would be too expensive and fail to provide the same coverage as the Affordable Care Act. Instead, Pelosi  suggested Thursday that she would rather build on the 2010 law and is yet to be convinced the Medicare-for-all proposal pushed by many liberals would achieve its purported goals,” the Washington Post reports.

Said Pelosi: “I’m agnostic. Show me how you think you can get there. We all share the value of health care for all Americans — quality, affordable health care for all Americans. What is the path to that? I think it’s the Affordable Care Act, and if that leads to Medicare-for-all, that may be the path.”

Pelosi Takes Charge of Her Party

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“Ever since she reclaimed the gavel in January, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been her party’s unquestioned leader,” the Washington Post reports.

“That perch has been bolstered this week as she has asserted herself as Democrats’ seasoned and pragmatic strategist following the conclusion of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.”

“From reassuring and reining in Democrats galled by Attorney General William Barr for issuing only a summary of the special counsel’s findings, to rallying her colleagues to fight the Trump administration’s efforts to gut President Barack Obama’s health-care law, Pelosi has taken charge.”

Sasse Blames Pelosi for His Vote Backing Trump

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Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE) explained in a statement after voting against a rebuke of President Trump declaration of a border emergency that it’s Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s fault.

While Sasse thinks the law Trump used to declare an emergency to sidestep Congress “is overly broad” and in need of a fix, “at present Nancy Pelosi doesn’t, so I am therefore voting against her politically motivated resolution. As a constitutional conservative, I believe that the law currently on the books should be narrowed considerably.”

Pelosi Never Actually Ruled Out Impeachment

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Molly Ball: “Conventional wisdom in Washington tends to treat impeachment as a fringe crusade, on a par with campaigns by anti­fluoridation activists or UFO ­enthusiasts, and views Pelosi as right to resist this momentum. Many believe it would be a political disaster for Democrats, galvanizing Trump’s base and alienating moderates. Republicans have taken to goading their opponents to try it, while White House officials say they relish the prospect of the Democratic Party tearing itself apart over the issue.”

“But Pelosi is actually playing a deeper game. Her aides note that she’s never ruled impeachment out. All she’s done, they say, is set a ­standard: ­increased popular support and some degree of GOP backing. Behind the scenes, she and her team are working to see that standard is met.”

Said one senior Pelosi aide: “The easy thing to do would be to start down the path of impeachment. That’s a trap. Now that we have the gavel and can expose all of this wrongdoing, I think you will start to see a shift in public opinion and movement of Republicans.”

Taegan Goddard

Taegan Goddard

Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.

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