Pelosi rattled off a series of items which have become public since the House votes, making the case that the Senate needs to hear from witnesses who did not testify before the House impeachment investigation, something which GOP leaders have resisted.
"We need to see the arena in which we are sending our managers. Is that too much to ask?"
Q: "Are you holding the articles indefinitely?"@SpeakerPelosi: "No. I'm not holding them indefinitely. I'll send them over when I'm ready. That will probably be soon."
— CSPAN (@cspan) January 9, 2020
Full video here: https://t.co/EMwzfZaHKc pic.twitter.com/nVF1TKHAEC
.@SpeakerPelosi on Articles of Impeachment: “We need to see the arena in which we are sending our managers.”
— CSPAN (@cspan) January 9, 2020
Full video here: https://t.co/EMwzfZaHKc pic.twitter.com/v69kjhBhpK
Pelosi's remarks came as some Democrats in both the House and Senate began to publicly say that she should send the articles of impeachment to the Senate.
On CNN, Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA) was asked on Thursday morning if it was time to send the impeachment charges to the Senate - and said it was.
A few hours later, he changed his tune, as did some Senate Democrats who had come out and said it was time for them to act on the impeachment matter.
I misspoke this morning, I do believe we should do everything we can to force the Senate to have a fair trial. If the Speaker believes that holding on to the articles for a longer time will help force a fair trial in the Senate, then I wholeheartedly support that decision.
— Rep. Adam Smith (@RepAdamSmith) January 9, 2020
After what felt like a jailbreak yesterday of senate (and some house) Dems calling on Pelosi to release the articles of impeachment, a whooooole lotta Dems are walking back their comments this morning, or clarifying they still think it’s the Speaker’s call
— Garrett Haake (@GarrettHaake) January 9, 2020
The impeachment trial cannot officially begin until the actual papers are transmitted from the House to the Senate.
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