House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith walked back his remarks after urging House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to turn the impeachment effort over to the Senate.
Smith, 54, told CNN on Monday morning that he believed “it is time” for Pelosi to hand over the articles of impeachment to the Senate after withholding them for several weeks in an attempt to leverage the Republican-controlled Senate into holding further witness testimony as part of the trial. After Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced that he had the votes to keep the rules as they were, Smith claimed the House should pass it over.
“I understand what the speaker is trying to do, basically trying to use the leverage of that to work with Democratic and Republican senators to try and get a reasonable trial, a trial that would actually show evidence, bring out witnesses,” he explained. “But at the end of the day, just like we control it in the House, Mitch McConnell controls it in the Senate.”
The Washington Democrat said, “I think it was perfectly advisable for the speaker to try and leverage that to get a better deal, but at this point, it doesn’t look like that’s gonna happen, and, yes, I think it is time to send the impeachment to the Senate and let Mitch McConnell be responsible for the fairness of the trial. He ultimately is.”
A few hours later, Smith tweeted that he had “misspoke” when he split with Pelosi on the impeachment strategy. He wrote, “I misspoke this morning, I do believe we should do everything we can to force the Senate to have a fair trial. If the Speaker believes that holding on to the articles for a longer time will help force a fair trial in the Senate, then I wholeheartedly support that decision.”
He added, “I am concerned that Senator McConnell won’t have a fair trial and I am with the Speaker that we should do everything we can to ensure he does. Ultimately, I do want the articles sent to the Senate for the very simple reason that I want the impeachment process to go forward.”
I am concerned that Senator McConnell won’t have a fair trial and I am with the Speaker that we should do everything we can to ensure he does. Ultimately, I do want the articles sent to the Senate for the very simple reason that I want the impeachment process to go forward.
— Rep. Adam Smith (@RepAdamSmith) January 9, 2020
Smith was the lone chairman to split with Pelosi over the impeachment strategy before taking back the remarks, though several Senate Democrats have urged her to move forward with the process by handing the articles over.
