House Speaker Nancy Pelosi delivers remarks following
Democratic meeting on moving forward with impeachment proceedings.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.,
announced the formalization of an impeachment inquiry into President Trump
Tuesday evening, saying "the president must be held accountable" for
his "betrayal of his oath of office, betrayal of our national security,
and the betrayal of the integrity of our elections."
The speaker effectively endorsed the process, which to
some degree has already
been underway, after facing fresh pressure from inside the caucus to act
publicly. The move could help Democrats' disputed arguments
in court that impeachment proceedings were in fact in progress, which
could entitle Congress to obtain additional documents.
Invoking the "darkest days of the American
Revolution," Pelosi called on lawmakers to honor their constitutional oath
to protect the country "from all enemies, foreign and domestic."
Pelosi specifically charged that the administration had
violated the law by not turning over a whistleblower complaint concerning
Trump's July call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Citing testimony that the director of
national intelligence was blocking the release of that complaint, she
said: "This is a violation of law. The law is unequivocal."
Trump allegedly pushed Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and
his son Hunter. The president vowed Tuesday to release a "complete"
transcript of his call with Zelensky, though it's unlikely to settle the issue in
Congress.
Joe Biden has acknowledged on camera that, when he was vice president, he
successfully pressured Ukraine to fire its top prosecutor, Viktor Shokin,
while Shokin was investigating the natural gas firm Burisma Holdings — where Hunter Biden was on the
board. Shokin himself had separately been accused of corruption.
"This week, the president has admitted to asking the
president of Ukraine to take actions which would benefit him politically,"
Pelosi said. "Therefore, today, I'm announcing the House of
Representatives is moving forward with an official impeachment inquiry. I'm
directing our six committees to proceed with their investigations under that
umbrella.
"The president must be held accountable," she
continued. "No one is above the law."
The committees then would gather evidence and president
it to Pelosi and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., who
would make the ultimate determination on whether to hold an impeachment vote.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., responded
to Pelosi's statement by noting that Democrats have been pushing to impeach
Trump for years, for a variety of reasons.
"Nancy Pelosi may be Speaker of the House,"
McCarthy said, "but she does not speak for America. ... What she said
today made no difference in what's been going on. This election is over. It's
time to put the public before politics."
Trump, for his part, ripped into Democrats in a series
of tweets immediately after Pelosi's comments, writing
that "PRESIDENTIAL HARASSMENT" was in progress again. “They never even saw the transcript of the call. A total
Witch Hunt! Such an important day at the United Nations, so much work
and so much success, and the Democrats purposely had to ruin and demean it with
more breaking news Witch Hunt garbage," Trump wrote. "So bad for our
Country! Pelosi, Nadler, Schiff
and, of course, Maxine Waters! Can you believe this?”
Trump is set to meet with Zelensky in Washington on
Wednesday. The visit was previously scheduled, unrelated to the
whistleblower allegation, although the two leaders are expected to face
questions about the matter from reporters.
House Oversight Committee Ranking Member Jim Jordan,
R-Ohio, called Democrats' efforts predictable and destructive in his own fiery
statement.
"Democrats have been trying to impeach the President
since the beginning of this Congress," Jordan said. "Michael Cohen's
testimony was a bust. John Dean's testimony was a waste of time. The Mueller
report did not live up to the hype.
Pelosi had met Tuesday afternoon with her caucus of
House Democrats prior to giving the planned statement.
Wary of compromising the electability of vulnerable Democrats
in the caucus, Pelosi had long resisted taking the dramatic step publicly --
even though other top Democrats have insisted, in legal
filings and the media, that an impeachment inquiry already has
been in progress for months.
"It is a colossal error." — Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn
Swing district Rep. Mikie Sherrill,
D-N.J., acknowledged to Fox News that supporting the impeachment inquiry
"could" affect her electorally, but she maintained that Trump voters
in her district "understand," and that Trump crossed a red line.
Republicans said the move would prove to be a major
political mistake.
"It is a colossal error," Texas Republican Sen.
John Cornyn told Fox News just prior to Pelosi's comments. "And, I’m kind
of surprised that Speaker Pelosi, as shrewd as she is, would let it get to this
point."
Pelosi's impeachment imprimatur came after a flurry of those swing-district Democrats late Monday
wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post backing an impeachment inquiry, or a
fact-finding look at whether an impeachment vote by the full House is
warranted. And on Saturday night, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez,
D-N.Y., said Democrats' failure to act on impeachment had been
a "national scandal."
Pelosi's decision Tuesday heartened Democrats who have
long called for impeaching the president, only to be stalled after Special
Counsel Robert Mueller found no evidence of Russian collusion by the Trump
campaign.
Sen. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, slammed Democrats'
impeachment push as predictable and destructive. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin,
File)
In remarks to reporters at the United Nations on Monday,
Trump denied linking the aid money to Ukraine's investigative
actions. “No, I didn’t — I didn’t do it,” Trump said. But, he also
repeatedly called the Bidens' actions in Ukraine a "disgrace," acknowledged that Biden had
come up during the call and added: "It's very important to talk
about corruption. ... Why would you give money to a country that you think
is corrupt?"
Trump tweeted Tuesday that he would make a
"complete" transcript of his phone call public on Wednesday.
"I am currently at the United Nations representing
our Country, but have authorized the release tomorrow of the complete, fully
declassified and unredacted transcript of my phone conversation with President
Zelensky of Ukraine," Trump wrote. "You will see it was a very
friendly and totally appropriate call. No pressure and, unlike Joe Biden and
his son, NO quid pro quo! This is nothing more than a continuation of the
Greatest and most Destructive Witch Hunt of all time!"
Justice Department lawyers, as well as lawyers at the
White House, have been advising White House officials to release the transcript
since last week, a source familiar with the conversations told Fox News.
At an event Tuesday, Pelosi intimated that impeachment would
remain on the table, regardless of what the transcript showed. Many
conservatives charged that she was moving the goalposts and lowering expectations.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.,
pressured Pelosi on Sunday to institute an impeachment inquiry. (AP Photo/J.
Scott Applewhite, File)
"We have many other, shall we say, candidates for
impeachable offenses in terms of the Constitution, but this one is the most
understandable by the public," Pelosi said, referring to the Ukraine phone
call allegation. "It's really important to know this: There is no
requirement that there be a quid-pro-quo in the conversation."
Other prominent Democrats also seemingly said Trump
should be impeached no matter what.
"The president has committed several impeachable
offenses," Ocasio-Cortez told reporters after Pelosi's remarks on
impeachment. In another indication that Democrats were apparently hedging their
bets on the Ukraine matter, Ocasio-Cortez said alleged Emoluments Clause
violations by the president could be included in prospective articles of
impeachment.
Democrats continued to push for the whistleblower to
testify and to see the full whistleblower complaint throughout the day. House
Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said Tuesday afternoon
that testimony from the whistleblower might be imminent.
"We have been informed by the whistleblower’s
counsel that their client would like to speak to our committee and has
requested guidance from the Acting DNI [Director of National Intelligence] as
to how to do so," Schiff said in a tweet. "We‘re in touch with
counsel and look forward to the whistleblower’s testimony as soon as this
week."
It was unclear if Acting DNI Joseph Maguire would provide
that guidance. Maguire is expected to testify himself before the House
Intelligence Committee at an open hearing on Thursday -- but Maguire has
refused to share some information, including the complaint.
A source familiar with the matter told Fox News this week that
the whistleblower had no firsthand knowledge of Trump's call with Zelensky.
As Pelosi met with her caucus, Senate Minority Leader
Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y, called for the Senate and House Intelligence Committees
to immediately have access to the whistleblower complaint. The panels
"should be allowed to evaluate the complaint in a deliberate and
bipartisan manner consistent with applicable statutes and processes in order to
safeguard classified and sensitive information," Schumer asserted.
Pelosi and House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer,
D-Md., also released a joint statement Tuesday announcing an imminent
resolution condemning the White House's failure to turn over all related
documents to Congress.
"Allegations that the President of the United States
sought to enlist a foreign government to interfere in our democratic process by
investigating one of his political rivals – and may have used the withholding
of Congressionally-appropriated foreign assistance days earlier as intimidation
– are deeply alarming," Hoyer and Pelosi wrote.
They demanded the whistleblower's protection, and
for "the Acting Director of National Intelligence [to] provide Congress
the [whistleblower] complaint, as specified under the law, and all
requests for documents and testimony relating to this allegation."
Pelosi and Hoyer continued: "On Wednesday, the House
will vote on a resolution making it clear Congress’s disapproval of the
Administration’s effort to block the release of the complaint and the need to
protect the whistleblower. This is not a partisan matter, it’s about the
integrity."
Meanwhile, Yahoo News reported that the
GOP-controlled Senate Intelligence Committee had written to the whistleblower's attorney, requesting a
closed-door interview.
The precise implications of Pelosi's shift on impeachment
were unclear, given Democrats' previous rhetoric on the topic. Earlier this
month, Hoyer contradicted some of his colleagues by insisting that
Congress is not engaged in any kind of "impeachment inquiry" --
before reversing course hours later in a "clarifying" press
statement.
Other top Democrats, including Nadler, have insisted repeatedly in court and in
public that an impeachment inquiry has been in progress.
“It has been an impeachment inquiry,” Nadler has said.
“What we are doing is clear. It has been very clear. It continues to be very
clear."
But, when asked if he thought it was an impeachment
inquiry, Hoyer initially responded with an emphatic “No.”
Hoyer added: “I think the delineation ought to be
whether or not they are considering a resolution of impeachment.”
The Justice Department, in court filings earlier this
month, sought to block congressional Democrats' bid for secret grand jury
material from the Mueller investigation by citing the confusion inside the
caucus over whether or not they're pursuing an "impeachment
investigation."
"The committee’s own description of its
investigation makes clear that it is too far removed from any potential
judicial proceeding to qualify," the DOJ said.
A total of 172 House Democrats have now signaled strong
support for an impeachment inquiry -- 235 Democrats and 198 Republicans
are in the House, with one pro-impeachment independent. A majority would be
required to successfully impeach the president. A highly unlikely
two-thirds vote in the GOP-controlled Senate would be needed to convict and
remove the president.
Vice President Mike Pence would then take office in that
scenario.
"The ironic thing is is that everything that our
critics in the media are leveling at the president from this phone call, and
leveling at our administration, everything that Democrats on Capitol Hill are
running off and describing -- Vice President Joe Biden bragged about -- which
was a quid-pro-quo -- withholding American aid in exchange for a specific
action," Pence told Fox News' "Hannity" on Monday.
Fox News' Chad Pergram, Ronn Blitzer and
Jake Gibson contributed to this report.
