Pelosi Was Inspired to Withhold Impeachment Articles Because of CNN Segment with Nixon Counsel John Dean

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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) was first inspired to pursue her ongoing strategy of withholding President Donald Trump’s impeachment articles from the Senate after watching former Nixon White House counsel John Dean pitch the idea on CNN, according to a Time magazine profile published on Thursday.

Dean suggested the unorthodox plan during a December 5 appearance on the network, leading Pelosi to propose it to leading members of the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee during a private brainstorming session on December 17 — one night before the House’s vote to impeach the president. A Democratic aide who was present in the room told Time that Pelosi brought up the withholding strategy by saying, “Somebody said to me today that he may not even take up what we send. [But] then [Trump] will never be vindicated.”

“He will be impeached forever. Forever,” she added, per the aide. “No matter what the Senate does.”

In a Tuesday letter to Democratic members, Pelosi explained her strategy by stating that “it is important” for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to “immediately publish” the resolution outlining the rules for the Senate impeachment trial.

“As I have said before, we can see the arena in which we will be participating, appoint managers and transmit the articles to the Senate,” the top Democrat added.

However, Pelosi’s strategy is already receiving criticism from her colleagues for the roundabout approach.

“We are reaching a point where articles of impeachment should be sent and we should have votes on whether witnesses will be called,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) said Wednesday, while Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) has noted that Pelosi “should send them over. I don’t see what good delay does.”