House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday rejected mounting pressure from the Senate to turn over the articles of impeachment.
The decision continues the unprecedented standoff between the two chambers over the delivery of articles and with it the start of an impeachment trial.
“I said from the start, we need to see the arena in which we are sending our managers. Is that too much to ask?” the California Democrat said. “We are ready, we are proud of our defense of the constitution of the United States. We are concerned that the senators will not be able to live up to the oath they must take to have an impartial trial.”
Mrs. Pelosi did not offer a specific timeline for delivering the articles, but affirmed she won’t hold them “indefinitely.”
“I’ll send them over when I’m ready. And that will probably be soon.”
Mrs. Pelosi rejected the Republican argument that they are simply adopting a procedure set by the 1999 Clinton trial that enjoyed widespread bipartisan agreement at the time.
She said that she’s “heard different things” about what Republicans would like to do, including a potential dismissal.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell warned Thursday morning that the Senate will move on to consideration of the USMCA trade deal next week rather than the impeachment trial if the articles aren’t delivered this week.
The standoff over the impeachment trial began when the speaker refused to send over the articles after House Democrats impeached President Trump on two counts — abuse of power and obstruction of Congress — late last month.
Democrats in both chambers demanded that the trial include presentation of additional evidence and witnesses not included in the House investigation.
Mr. McConnell said he had the votes in line to proceed with the trial as Republicans see fit — using the Clinton impeachment trial as a model.
The 1999 proceedings allowed for House prosectors and a White House defense team to present their cases and answer questions from senators, before the chamber decided on whether or not to hear from witnesses. Those ground rules were approved unanimously.
House Democrats, however, argue that Republicans aren’t actually honoring the Clinton model in this situation because while Mr. Clinton was investigated exhaustively by a special counsel for over a year, congressional investigators were unable to interview various administration officials who refused to cooperate with the congressional probe.
Mrs. Pelosi also cited two new developments — recently unredacted emails showing Pentagon concern about the hold on military aid to Ukraine and former National Security Advisor John Bolton’s willingness to testify — as examples of new information that has come to light that should be included in the Senate trial.
Adding to the pressure on Mrs. Pelosi is that a handful of Senate Democrats have now broken with their House colleagues’ resolve to hold on to the articles, saying the time has come for her to advance the articles of impeachment on to the upper chamber.
Meanwhile, Republican defenders of the president continue to call on Mrs. Pelosi to act. Sen. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican, told The Washington Times Thursday it’s “terrible” for the speaker to continue to hold onto the articles of impeachment, saying it’s time for the upper chamber to change the rules.
• Gabriella Muñoz can be reached at gmunoz@washingtontimes.com.
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