New Democratic fault line: Nancy Pelosi says she's opposed to impeaching Trump
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says President Trump is 'not worth' risk of impeachment; chief congressional correspondent Mike Emanuel reports from Capitol Hill.
Outspoken Democratic Rep. Al Green is not letting House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s newly announced opposition to impeachment proceedings hold him back.
Green, D-Texas, speaking with Fox News, said Tuesday that he still intends to bring articles of impeachment against President Trump to the House floor for a vote.
PELOSI SAYS SHE'S OPPOSED TO IMPEACHING TRUMP: 'HE'S JUST NOT WORTH IT'
“Each member of the House has the prerogative to bring impeachment to a vote. I intend to bring impeachment to a vote, and I will do so because the president has been acknowledged by leaders and others that he is not fit to hold the office,” Green said. “He’s causing harm to society and as such, he should be impeached.”
On the first day of the new Congress this year, Green and Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., introduced articles of impeachment against the president. The pair also raised the issue in 2017 and 2018, to no avail.
“This is not about any individual. It’s about liberty and justice for all. It’s about maintaining our democracy. It’s not about Democrats, it’s about keeping the republic, and frankly, not about Republicans,” Green said Tuesday. “It’s about our country. I love my country.”
UNITED STATES - JANUARY 15: Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, speaks during a news conference in the Capitol Visitor Center on the full implementation of the Affordable Care Act in Texas. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)
Green’s comments follow Pelosi making her most-public attempt yet to tamp down impeachment chatter.
“I’m not for impeachment,” Pelosi told The Washington Post Magazine in an interview published Monday. “Impeachment is so divisive to the country that unless there’s something so compelling and overwhelming and bipartisan, I don’t think we should go down that path, because it divides the country.”
She added: “And he’s just not worth it.”
Trump’s attorney, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani said that Pelosi was “being realistic as to the political reaction” of impeachment.
“Maybe she doesn’t see any real evidence of anything wrongful,” Giuliani told Fox News on Tuesday.
TLAIB SAYS SHE'LL INTRODUCE ARTICLES OF IMPEACHMENT AGAINST TRUMP THIS MONTH
Meanwhile, senior Democrats appeared to get in line with Pelosi on the issue -- for the time being.
“We need to have as much information as possible … the American people are going to have to decide,” House Majority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md., told reporters Tuesday. “While we have impeachment authority, we have to be very cognizant of what the American people need.”
“The distraction would be major,” Hoyer said.
Even House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., who is leading one of several Trump-focused investigations on Capitol Hill, sided with Pelosi, calling her “absolutely right” to hold back on impeachment proceedings.
“A bipartisan process would have to be extra clear and compelling,” Schiff told reporters. “I think the speaker is absolutely right. In its absence, an impeachment [process] becomes a partisan exercise doomed for failure. And I see little to be gained by putting the country through that kind of wrenching experience.”
But freshman Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., who has repeatedly advocated impeachment, suggested she'd continue to speak her mind on the issue.
“Speaker Pelosi has always encouraged me to represent my district, never has told me to stop,” she told reporters. “Has never told me to do anything differently. Ever.”
Fox News’ John Roberts, Jared Halpern, and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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