President Trump’s promise to release the transcript of the conversation he had with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky may not quell Democratic calls for an impeachment inquiry, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Tuesday.
“No, it’s not about that,” the top congressional Democrat said at the Atlantic Festival. “This is about the Constitution of the United States. And we’ve had many other, shall we say, candidates for an impeachment offense in terms of the Constitution of the United States, but this one is the most understandable by the public.”
Describing the situation as a “sad” predicament, Pelosi reminded the audience that impeachment does not require that there be a quid pro quo in the conversation.
“If the president brings up, he wants them to investigate something, his political opponent, that is self-evident that it is not right,” she said. “We don’t ask foreign governments to help us in our elections. That’s what we tried to stop with Russia.”
Pelosi added that Trump was “making lawlessness a virtue in this country.”
House Democrats plan to huddle Tuesday afternoon to discuss the latest allegations about Trump and how it impacts the party’s impeachment push.
Democrats believe a leaked whistleblower accusation against Trump that claims he tried to dangle foreign aid to get the Ukraine government to investigate Biden. Many congressional Democrats want the underlying whistleblower complaint, not just the transcript of the phone call, which happened in July.
Pelosi, who declined to announce an impeachment inquiry at the event, said she would address the press about her next steps at 5 p.m. after she’s met with her caucus on Capitol Hill.
Shortly before Pelosi took the stage, Trump vowed via Twitter to make public a transcript of the phone conversation between him and the foreign leader, which he said would reveal a “very friendly and totally appropriate call.”
I am currently at the United Nations representing our Country, but have authorized the release tomorrow of the complete, fully declassified and unredacted transcript of my phone conversation with President Zelensky of Ukraine….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 24, 2019
….You will see it was a very friendly and totally appropriate call. No pressure and, unlike Joe Biden and his son, NO quid pro quo! This is nothing more than a continuation of the Greatest and most Destructive Witch Hunt of all time!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 24, 2019
