Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she won’t name impeachment managers or send articles of impeachment to the Senate until Republican Senate leaders set terms for a trial that are fair to Democrats.
“We cannot name managers until we see what the process is on the Senate side,” Pelosi said. “So far, we haven’t seen anything that looks fair to us. We are hoping it will be fairer and when we see that we’ll appoint managers.”
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The announcement, made moments after the House impeached Trump, leaves in limbo Democratic efforts to eject Trump from office.
The House voted Wednesday to impeach Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
The Senate was set to hold a trial in January but can’t begin until the Democrats send over the impeachment articles from the House via lawmakers they appoint as managers.
House Democrats want the Senate to agree to the terms set by Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who wants the Senate to subpoena four Trump administration officials to testify at the Senate trial.
Schumer also wants Trump to turn over documents related a July 25 phone call with the Ukrainian president at the heart of the impeachment charges.
“We would hope that the information would be available in a trial to go to the next step, to serve another level,” Pelosi said. “But, right now, the president is impeached.”
When a reporter asked Pelosi if it’s possible the House may never send the Senate the impeachment articles, Pelosi answered, “We are not having that discussion. We have done what we have set out to do. The House has acted, on a very sad day, to defend the Constitution of the United States.”
Democrats say they are unhappy that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, said he would not serve as an impartial juror in the Senate trial and would work with Trump’s White House lawyers to set the proceedings.
“This is what I don’t consider fair,” Pelosi said.
McConnell told reporters Wednesday he is in “no hurry” to hold a trial.
McConnell has rejected Schumer’s request to subpoena former national security adviser John Bolton and acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, as well as two other administration officials.
