Two days after former special counsel Robert Mueller’s much-watched testimony before two House panels, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said House Democrats do not have enough evidence to open impeachment proceedings against President Trump.
“We will proceed when we have what we need to proceed,” Pelosi said Friday. “Not one day sooner.”
Mueller’s appearance largely fell flat, but it has not diminished the desire among dozens of House Democrats to launch an impeachment inquiry.
Some urged Pelosi in the hours after Mueller’s appearance to green-light such a step but she rejected the idea in a closed-door meeting with the caucus Wednesday night.
“I’m willing to take whatever heat is there to say the decision will be made in a timely fashion,” she said. Pelosi added the House will continue with a broad effort to probe the Trump administration and the president’s personal finances through subpoenas enforced in court.
[Related: 100 House Democrats now support impeachment]
Mueller, she noted, “was not able to investigate the president’s finances, personal business, or other matters, and that is what we are doing in the court.”
Among those privately urging impeachment is House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, whose panel would be in charge of an inquiry.
Pelosi said she’s not opposed to those pushing for impeachment or criticizing her hesitancy.
But she signaled she’s growing tired of the daily questions from the media about the divide over impeachment, uttering “Same old, same old” at the start of her weekly question-and-answer period with the press.
“Everyone has the liberty and the luxury to espouse their own position and to criticize me,” Pelosi said. “Their advocacy for impeachment only gives me leverage. I have no complaint with what they are doing. That is what I have to say with you.”
