House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is not quite running a tight ship.
Despite the California congresswoman’s repeated calls for her colleagues to focus on legislation and move on from the fantasy of drafting articles of impeachment against President Trump, some in her caucus are just really committed to seeing him removed from office.
Rep. Maxine Waters, D.-Calif., for example, promised supporters this week that she is very much devoted to pursuing impeachment.
“So, some people say, ‘How dare her come out and say impeach him? She doesn’t know enough about him to talk about impeaching him.’ But now the American people, whether they say it or not, they know that this man is dangerous,” Waters said Tuesday at Woman’s National Democratic Club dinner. “That, certainly, he conspired with the Kremlin and with the oligarchs of Russia.”
Waters continued, claiming America cannot allow for its allies to think Trump was elected legitimately.
“But guess what? They are going to believe it when we get rid of him,” Waters assured her audience.
Attorney General William Barr announced March 24 that Mueller’s team failed to “establish that the members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.” The attorney general also said the special investigation could not find enough evidence “to establish that the President committed an obstruction-of-justice offense.”
Waters, for her part, says she simply does not trust Barr.
“I know that you are all worried about the special counsel and the fact that we have a report that has been described to us in a letter by the attorney general. We don’t know what’s in the report yet, and we’re going to demand it,” the congresswoman said.
She added she would try to subpoena the full Mueller report, explaining she hopes it will lead eventually to the president’s impeachment.
“While there’s still those that think he’ll never be impeached, you never know,” she said. “So, let me leave you with this: Despite the fact that we haven’t gotten the report yet, and we’re going after it, and it may be subpoenaed, that it is being worked on. I’m still saying impeach 45.”
Waters concluded her speech, leaving the podium to cheers of “Impeach 45! Impeach 45!”
Pelosi will no doubt be thrilled to learn that the chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee is running around promising supporters they are going to impeach the president, even after the House speaker suggested specifically (and not subtly) that members of the caucus focus on bigger, more realistic goals. In fact, funny point: Pelosi has been trying to tamp down Democrats’ impeachment talk since even before they retook the House.
Pelosi certainly didn’t appreciate that her colleagues made impeachment a big enough issue that reporters asked her about it repeatedly prior to the November midterm elections. I can’t imagine she has warmed to it now.
