House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) opposes impeaching President Trump, she told the Washington Post, her most forceful statement to date on the topic.
“I’m not for impeachment. This is news. I’m going to give you some news right now because I haven’t said this to any press person before,” Pelosi said. “But since you asked, and I’ve been thinking about this: Impeachment is so divisive to the country that unless there’s something so compelling and overwhelming and bipartisan, I don’t think we should go down that path, because it divides the country. And he’s just not worth it.”
Those remarks go considerably further than her previous comments on the topic, and come at a rather curious time since the looming investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller seems to be drawing to a close.
Pelosi had previously said on multiple occasions that it was premature to consider impeachment and that she wanted to see what Mueller found — not that it should be entirely off the table.
Just last week, Pelosi said that she was wary of impeachment — but that she wanted to see the report.
“Impeachment is a divisive issue in our country. And let us see what the facts are, what the law is, and what the behavior is of the president,” she said.
The remarks are certain to infuriate some progressives and others who believe there’s already enough evidence to impeach Trump — including some members of her own caucus. But other Democrats have been wary of beginning impeachment proceedings against the president that were unlikely to go anywhere in a divided Congress, worried that it could backfire on them and help reelect him in 2020.
The remarks may be aimed at tamping down rising pressure from the left to begin impeachment proceedings. Their also raises the question of whether Pelosi, who as a congressional leader has been privy to private intelligence briefings about the report not available to the public, may have seen enough to believe there won’t be sufficient evidence in the Mueller report to build a bipartisan push for impeachment.
