House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday that President Trump showed a lack of “any sense of decency” in saying he would accept foreign information on a political opponent, and said the comments will become part of Democrats’ impeachment review.
But she said the comments alone aren’t enough to trigger impeachment.
“Yesterday, the president gave us evidence that he does not know right from wrong,” she told reporters.
She said the House will at some point vote on a bill to create a “duty to report” to the FBI any foreign government’s attempts to pass political information to a campaign.
Mrs. Pelosi was responding to Mr. Trump’s comments in an interview with ABC News where he said he had no problem accepting foreign assistance, and wouldn’t immediately report to authorities.
“It’s not an interference. They have information. I think I’d take it,” he said.
Mr. Trump doubled down on his remarks Thursday morning, arguing he gets information from foreign officials everyday — he cited recent meetings with the British royal family — and he doesn’t contact the FBI about those interactions.
Mrs. Pelosi criticized him for being “cavalier” in the face of Russian attempts to meddle in American elections.
“Everybody in the country should be totally appalled by what the president said last night,” she said. “This one borders on so totally unethical that he doesn’t even realize it.”
But when reporters prodded her on impeachment, she said she’s still committed to “a methodical approach to the path that we are on, and this will be included in that.”
She said “not any one issue” would be the trigger.
• Gabriella Muñoz can be reached at gmunoz@washingtontimes.com.
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