Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi hinted at the course her chamber’s investigations may take by accusing President Donald Trump of “demonstrating more obstruction of justice” every day.
At the Speaker’s weekly press conference Thursday, Pelosi fielded many questions about the “constitutional crisis” arising from Attorney General William Barr‘s refusal to cooperate with Congress and other administration efforts to block investigations.
After telling reporters that she agrees we are in a “constitutional crisis,” Pelosi was asked “If this truly is a constitutional crisis, how can that not change your thinking of the calculus regarding impeachment?”
Pelosi reiterated what she has said repeatedly on the subject, that “we have investigations that will give us the facts and the truth,” and that the Nixon proceeding “was months of hearings and investigation before they got to a place where they had enough, they had a compelling argument that even the Republicans had to go to the president and say ‘it’s over.'”
She went on to say that “As I said yesterday, the president is almost self-impeaching because he is, every day, demonstrating more obstruction of justice and disrespect for Congress’s legitimate role to subpoena.”
“So we will, again this is very methodical, it’s very constitutional-based, it’s very law-based, it’s very factually-based,” Pelosi said. “It’s not about pressure, it’s about patriotism.”
Pelosi’s position has widely been interpreted, including by the reporters in that room, as opposition to impeachment, but she has also repeatedly said that the process should be reserved only for the most compelling of reasons. Her assertion that Trump is “self-impeaching” and engaging in “obstruction of justice” every day is a not-so-subtle clue as to where she thinks the process may end up.
Watch the clip above, via C-Span.
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