House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is striking the right tone on whether there should be impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump.
Pelosi isn’t ruling out impeachment proceedings against Trump. She says it depends on findings by the special counsel investigating Russia’s interference in the 2016 election.
The California Democrat became House speaker on Thursday as the new Congress convened and Democrats assumed majority control in the House, where the Constitution says impeachment proceedings must begin.
Pelosi told NBC’s “Today” show, “We’ll have to wait and see what comes” from Robert Mueller’s probe of contacts between Trump’s presidential campaign and Russia.
Pelosi previously called impeachment a “divisive activity,” and Democrats were cautious about mentioning the “I’’ word during the 2018 midterms for fear it would backfire politically.
But Pelosi was right not to shy away from it this week. “We shouldn’t be impeaching for a political reason, and we shouldn’t avoid impeachment for a political reason,” Pelosi said.
Trump has denied any wrongdoing in the campaign.
Pelosi pledged to “reach across the aisle in this chamber and across the divisions in this great nation.”
Pelosi says the floor of the House must be “America’s Town Hall” and that it’s a place where people will see debates and where their voices will be heard and can affect lawmakers’ decisions.
She says Democratic priorities include lowering health care costs, investing in green infrastructure and “restoring integrity” to government.
But impeachment proceedings could also become an unavoidable priority.
Democrats should not go beyond the findings of the Mueller investigation, but they should not shy away from it either. Yes, it would be controversial and the nation would probably become even more deeply divided, but that cannot be used as an excuse not to act.
House Democrats should be guided by the facts of the Mueller investigation and not be reckless. If the special counsel investigation uncovers what appears to be impeachable wrongdoing by the president, both Democratic and Republican lawmakers are duty-bound to pursue impeachment proceedings.
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