House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) joined ABC News' George Stephanopoulos on Sunday to discuss her chamber's sham impeachment process against President Donald Trump. Even though the House voted on two articles of impeachment against the president, Pelosi has held onto those articles for 25 days and refusing to send them to the Senate. She has repeatedly said she wants to make sure the Senate will hold a "fair trial," which includes calling additional witnesses.
"You made the point that the president has blocked witnesses and that's true but some of your critics have said that the House could have done a lot more to exhaust the alternatives, to go through the entire process through the courts and get - to see if they would rule on witnesses," Stephanopoulos said.
The ABC News host pointed to Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), a moderate who Democrats hoped would vote in line with them to call additional witnesses. She has since said she would vote against the Democrats' calls for additional witnesses and in line with Republicans. Collins made it very clear she believes the House should have waited for the courts to rule on witness testimony.
"That isn't even true. We are in court on witnesses," Pelosi responded. "It could take a very long time."
Stephanopoulos mentioned National Security Adviser John Bolton. He's someone the House wanted to hear from but the White House invoked executive privilege. Bolton has since said he would be willing to testify in an impeachment trial should he be subpoenaed.
"On other witnesses, we've been in court," the speaker said. "And we haven't eliminated the possibility of ever subpoenaing and going forward with Bolton."
Pelosi said this impeachment saga has been different from Clinton because "President Clinton allowed witnesses to come forward. President Trump has prevented that from happening."
Stephanopoulos asked Pelosi point-blank, "Why not wait for the courts to rule?"
"Well, because It'll be how long?" she asked. "How long do the courts take? We had confidence- we have confidence in our case that it is impeachable, that this president is impeached for life, regardless of any gamesmanship on the part of the part of Mitch McConnell, however, that could still come to bear. We're still confident in the impeachment and we think it's enough testimony to remove him from office."
Pelosi said the Democrats "want the American people to see the truth." Naturally, she claimed the Senate is "afraid of the truth" by not wanting to call additional witnesses.
If Pelosi is so confident in the House's articles of impeachment, why has she withheld them for 25 days? If she's so confident in their case against the president, why are Democrats continually pushing for additional witness testimony? She's trying to make up the rules of the game as she goes along and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has put an end to it.
Pelosi: "Clinton allowed witnesses to come forward. Pres.Trump has prevented that from happening."@GStephanopoulos: "Why not wait for the courts to rule?"
— ABC News (@ABC) January 12, 2020
Pelosi: "Because it will be— how long do the courts take? ... We have confidence in our case." https://t.co/DrRhiob214 pic.twitter.com/VW4UfdueNu
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