MSNBC contributor and former Watergate prosecutor Jill Wine-Banks presented a way to remove President Trump from office and pave the way for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to assume the Oval Office: impeach Vice President Mike Pence first and offer the president a deal.
Joining the network’s AM Joy on Saturday, Wine-Banks was asked if Congress should look to impeach Trump first or turn their eyes to Pence instead. In response, she suggested going after Pence first and giving Trump the option to either replace him before being impeached himself — so that a Republican can remain in the White House — or decline and let Pelosi take over.
“You could impeach Pence first,” Wine-Banks stated. “The problem is that Donald Trump then has to name his replacement. But I think that maybe a deal could be struck where he was told, ‘If you don’t make a replacement, then Nancy Pelosi does become president. And so, you are going to be impeached and convicted. You need to make this replacement so that the proper party remains in power.'”
House Democrats launched an impeachment inquiry into the president last month amid concerns over his July phone call with the Ukrainian president, during which he asked the foreign leader to investigate both allegations of 2016 election interference by the country and accusations of corruption by former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter.
The phone call was the subject of a whistleblower complaint, which alleged that Trump used his power as president to ask a foreign government to meddle in the 2020 election by probing the Democratic front-runner and his political rival.
While the whistleblower did not have direct knowledge of the conversation, news broke Sunday that a second whistleblower with more direct information on Trump’s dealings with Ukraine has come forward.
