Yesterday, Nancy Pelosi’s office released a statement regarding the investigation(s)’s status. Earlier this week, I noted that a majority of House members now support an impeachment inquiry. Unless that new majority is factored in, this statement seems out of the blue. But accounting for the fact that Pelosi finds herself in the minority among her own caucus makes the timing near predictable.
Regardless of motivation, the statement’s most relevant parts are noteworthy and need to be heard: Full Statement HERE:
When we take the oath of office, we solemnly vow ‘to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.’ The Mueller report states unequivocally that Russia interfered in the 2016 election ‘in sweeping and systematic fashion.’ And the Intelligence Community informs us that Russia is working 24/7 to undermine our elections. This assault on our elections is a serious national security matter which the President chooses to ignore.
“The Mueller report and his testimony last week confirmed that the President’s campaign welcomed Russian interference in the election, and laid out ten instances of the President’s obstruction of justice. The President’s more recent attempts to prevent us from finding the facts is further evidence of obstruction of justice.
“To protect our democracy and our Constitution, Democrats in the Congress continue to legislate, investigate and litigate…
“The assault on our elections and our Constitution is a grave national security issue. We owe it to our Founders to sustain our system of checks and balances and our democracy. We owe it to our heroic men and women in uniform who risk their lives for freedom to defend our democracy at home. We owe it to our children to ensure that no present or future president can dishonor the oath of office without being held accountable.
In the actual statement, she lists the actions taken and the status of each effort. I will admit, the list is rather impressive.
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But that seems to be the point, and in making that point, Pelosi comes off as defensive. She realizes that a majority of her caucus now favors an impeachment inquiry, is she telling them anything they don’t already know? No.
These are sitting members of Congress. They would learn updates on the investigations merely having lunch, their staff would hear from friends on others’ staffs, and then there are the more formal reports available only to them. Pelosi is not speaking to her own caucus.
She is speaking to us.
She wants us to know that she has been, and will continue to be, opposing Trump at every turn. She clearly feels some serious political heat. She is hoping that this statement appeases the most aggressive of us. She does not want to see those polls favoring impeachment to get above 50% and stay that way. In this, she comes off as weak and, again, defensive.
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She is saying all the right things except the right thing. An impeachment inquiry is needed, not because it will lead to Trump’s removal, but because we need Donald Trump running for president with all his garbage spilled out on the sidewalk. Removal comes through the election, when a majority cannot even hold their nose anymore and vote for a fraud.
The only way to beat Trump and Trumpism as a movement is to break the mystique. Expose who he is.
Trump is a fraud. He lied about his financial status all along. He has been in bed with the Russian mob as long as he’s been in business; an arrangement he is not free to leave at any point. Trump now appears to be beholden to the Saudis, too, beholden to anyone who can make him rich. He is also petty, vile, and the least intellectually curious adult I have come across since … never mind.
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She must stop overcomplicating this. You break Trump by breaking who he holds himself out to be. Get his taxes. He is not near as rich as he says, and he cheats on them just like he cheats on everything else. Get the members of his campaign, including his family, to speak about each one of the hundred-plus contacts with Russians. Get them lying, afraid. Be aggressive. Get the record out on the table. Make him run against the tax fraud, the inflated wealth, the bank fraud, the money laundering, and the Russian contacts, expose it all.
Meanwhile, Trump is at his most vile when he is desperate. He alienates people that much more.
Pelosi fears losing her significant majority if she appears overly aggressive, one wonders if she contemplates whether the basis for her majority rests in her holding Trump accountable through an impeachment inquiry.
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My novels, linked HERE, a classic Huckleberry Finn-like adventure by an alien abductee.
An excellent summation.
That’s nice of you to say.
You are most welcome. It is rare to find such.
It’d be sooooo freakin’ hilarious in my opinion for Pelosi’s critics to be forced to eat some serious crow if, on January 31, 2020, she formally announces the FULL House impeachment inquiry–which was her intention all along. Get the inquiry into the headlines to take the heat off the primary results coverage (gods know the media will be in full “which Dem candidate will drop out this week after failing to win _____?” mode even before Iowa holds its first caucus or New Hampshire primary voters cast their first ballot) and, doing so, make sure that ALL of Trump’s “bad behaviors” get the full spotlight WHEN IT WILL DO THE MOST DAMAGE.
There’s a reason Pelosi is where she is and doing what she’s doing and HOW she’s doing it. The way the media has covered Trump in the past 2 years, you’d think people (especially Pelosi’s critics and detractors) would understand that Trump can pretty much overcome any bad press when there’s NO immediate downside for him. But, bring out all the bad press on him WHEN HE’S ACTUALLY TRYING TO CAMPAIGN? Put him on the defensive, just about 24/7–force him into a situation where he can’t just tweet away with a bunch of name-calling when that very activity will be additional fodder for the inquiry. If he’s having to defend himself during the campaign, he’ll have much less time to attack his eventual opponent.
With you all the way on this one. I think Trump has taught too many of our side the wrong lesson. You NEVER announce your plans to the other side, no matter how good it makes you to do it. I have yet to hear someone credibly explain to me how we were supposed to have gotten rid of Trump in seven months with only control of the House and a serious lack of support for impeachment outside our camp.
I always used to say that you can get the fast job or the good job. You cannot get both. So regardless of the pain inflicted, I am content to wait for the good job.
I will be more than happy to eat crow if I am wrong, and I do know that it is easy to sit on the sidelines – without responsibility for it if it all goes bad – and complain about this and that.
I am no antagonist and have had Pelosi’s back right up until summer, and I think she can more than make up for it IF the timing works out perfectly.
Anyway, I hope you are right. I fear that an announcement that late will be too late, and Trump can run out the clock on that. We’ll see. Thx for the comment. Good one.
Where I think your analysis might be faulty is the assumption that the caucus is motivating Speaker Pelosi’s actions, not the other way around. Let’s consider some of the evidence the latter might be the case.
The Democrats filed their legal document that uses the word impeachment dozens of times. Speaker Pelosi has pretty tight control on her caucus…do we assume there’s any chance at all that she didn’t approve of this document from top to bottom?
Every couple of days, right on queue, another House Dem comes out in favor of an inquiry. They’re all on message, and they’re spread out so that the story gets caught up in another news cycle over and over. Do we assume this “drip drip drip” is accidental? That it really took Dem #71 three more days to decide than Dem #70, but four less days than Dem #72?
Everything the Dems are doing makes it feel like someone is slowly putting pieces in place in order to prosecute a case against President Trump. You paint this picture of Speaker Pelosi as slowly losing control of her caucus…a woman who has relentlessly help her people together on a wide range of issues. Now, on this vital question she’s losing control? And in a way that is pushing the Dems in a prudent and strategic direction?
I just don’t buy your cynical assessment of this.