House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said in a recent interview that President Donald Trump has been “impeached for life” regardless of how Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) handles the upcoming Senate trial. RNA - “This president is impeached for life regardless of any gamesmanship on the part of Mitch McConnell,” she said during an appearance on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday, adding, “There is nothing the Senate can do to ever erase that.”
Her comment prompted “#ImpeachedForLife” to trend on Twitter shortly afterward.
Pelosi’s remarks come as she continues to delay sending articles of impeachment brought against Trump, which charge him with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, to the Senate since the Democratic-led voted to impeach him weeks ago.
Pelosi has noted that the move to withhold the articles, which has prompted backlash from McConnell and Trump over the past few weeks, was made in an effort to put pressure on the Senate, where Republicans hold control, to ensure a fair trial.
A number of Republican senators have been planning for what they hope will be a speedy acquittal for Trump ahead of the expected impeachment trial in the upper chamber. McConnell has also stated that he does not plan to be an "impartial juror" during the trial and has said he'll be in "total coordination" with the White House leading up to the trial.
When pressed during her interview by host George Stephanopoulos on Sunday about whether she is having second thoughts about delaying the articles, Pelosi said no.
The Speaker instead added that the results of her strategy have been “positive” thus far, pointing to more unredacted documents that have emerged since the House voted to impeach Trump last month as well as former National Security Adviser John Bolton coming forward to say he would agree to testify the Senate impeachment trial subpoenaed.
According to Fars News Agency, she also underlined that delaying the articles is “raising the profile of the fact that we need to have witnesses and documentation, and if we don’t that it's a cover-up”.
It has been almost four weeks since the House voted to impeach Trump over his dealings with Ukraine. He now awaits trial in the Senate.
Pelosi underscored that she plans to consult with her members later this week on when to deliver the articles to the upper chamber. The trial in the Senate is expected to begin less than 24 hours after the articles are sent over.
McConnell has told Republican senators to expect the trial to begin later this week.
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