Politics

Nancy Pelosi Comes Out In Favor Of Impeachment

Henry Rodgers Chief National Correspondent
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Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi came out in favor of the impeachment of President Donald Trump for the first time Tuesday, after meeting with her caucus.

“It would be my intention with the consent of this Caucus…. to proceed with an impeachment inquiry,” Pelosi told the Democratic caucus behind closed doors prior to her public announcement.

Pelosi then publicly announced late Tuesday afternoon, “Today I’m announcing the House of Representatives is moving forward with an official impeachment inquiry.”

Despite Pelosi’s early reluctance to push for impeachment, there are currently 174 Democrats who support impeachment or an impeachment inquiry, compared to the 61 Democrats who don’t support impeachment or impeachment inquiry yet. Pelosi has said she believes Trump is “goading” Democrats to impeach him because he thinks it will help him fire up his base.

Many of Pelosi’s Democratic colleagues have continued to push for impeaching Trump, such as Democratic Texas Rep. Al Green, who broke with Pelosi when he vowed to force a vote to impeach Trump in late March. Green, who previously had several bills to impeach Trump overwhelmingly rejected by the House of Representatives, called for a third impeachment vote. Pelosi said impeachment was “just not worth it” in a March interview.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat from California, pauses while speaking to members of the media at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2019. (Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler also requested a number of documents from the White House on March 4 and sent letters seeking information from people and organizations close to Trump. (RELATED: House Tables Vote To Consider Articles Of Impeachment For Trump)

Nadler sent the requests to 81 groups, people and organizations, searching for constitutional abuses and corruption by Trump. The New York representative said in March the requests for documents are to “begin investigations, to present the case to the American people about obstruction of justice, about corruption and abuse of power.” (RELATED: Pelosi Says Trump ‘Is Goading Us To Impeach Him’)

Tuesday’s comments were the first time Pelosi said Trump should be impeached.