House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) made clear that President Trump “must pay a price” for inciting the deadly insurrection at the Capitol last week, during an interview on CBS’ “60 Minutes” that aired on Sunday.
Pelosi stressed that Trump should resign, but if he doesn’t do so immediately, she will initiate impeachment proceedings.
Asked what would happen if Trump pardons himself, Pelosi initially replied: “What if he pardons these people who are terrorists on the Capitol? What if he does that?”
Pressed again on her thoughts on Trump possibly pardoning himself, Pelosi said that the President could only pardon himself from federal offenses.
“He cannot pardon himself from state offenses and that’s where he’s being investigated in the state of New York,” Pelosi said.
After “60 Minutes” correspondent Lesley Stahl pointed out the possibility of Trump facing no consequences and that he could run again for president, Pelosi said that the President running for a second term is “one of the motivations that people have for advocating for impeachment.”
Asked whether impeaching Trump is viable in the waning days of his presidency, Pelosi said that she likes the 25th Amendment “because it gets rid of him,” but acknowledged the growing support in Congress for impeaching the President a second time.
“This president is guilty of inciting insurrection,” Pelosi said. “He has to pay a price for that.”
Pelosi’s remarks on “60 Minutes” appeared to preview her letter to House Democrats issued Sunday night. The House Speaker informed her Democratic colleagues of plans to move forward with impeachment if Vice President Mike Pence and the Cabinet fail to invoke the 25th Amendment.
Pelosi added that Pence will have 24 hours to respond before Democrats introduce articles of impeachment.
On Monday morning, the Associated Press reported that Trump faces a single charge of “incitement of insurrection” over his encouragement of his supporters to “fight like hell” on the day of President-elect Joe Biden’s electoral certification, before they breached the U.S. Capitol, according to a draft of the impeachment articles obtained by the AP.
According to the AP, lawmakers are set to introduce the legislation Monday and intend to vote mid-week. Pelosi’s leadership team also will reportedly seek a quick vote on a resolution calling on Pence and Cabinet officials to invoke the 25th Amendment.
Watch Pelosi’s remarks below:
“This President is guilty of inciting an insurrection. He has to pay a price for that,” says Speaker Pelosi. She says she intends to keep the pressure on POTUS to leave office as soon as possible, threatening to initiate impeachment proceedings. https://t.co/QPg5SeXdlB pic.twitter.com/R38kZAT1F3
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) January 11, 2021
