Will Pelosi be forced to yield?
Says House speaker ‘trampling’ Trump’s rights
Marc Short, chief of staff to Vice President Mike Pence, predicted Sunday that Speaker Nancy Pelosi will “yield” in her delay of delivering articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump to the Senate.
Pelosi has delayed, seeking details on witnesses and testimony, forestalling a Senate trial that likely would end in
Trump’s acquittal on charges of obstruction of Congress and abuse of power.
Short said Pelosi’s delay is unacceptable, saying she’s “trampling” Trump’s rights.
“We think her case is going nowhere,” Short said.
WASHINGTON – The White House argued Sunday that Speaker Nancy Pelosi put herself in an untenable position by stalling House-passed articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump in hopes of shaping the upcoming Senate trial.
The House voted Wednesday to impeach Trump, who became only the third president in U.S. history to be formally charged with “high crimes and misdemeanors.” Pelosi declined to send the articles of impeachment to the Senate until Republicans provide details on witnesses and testimony, forestalling a trial that is likely to result in Trump’s acquittal on charges of obstruction of Congress and abuse of power.
An influential senator and key Trump ally predicted that the drive for new testimony by Pelosi, D-Calif. and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., would be for naught.
“She will yield. There’s no way she can hold this position,” said Marc Short, the chief of staff to Vice President Mike Pence. “We think her case is going nowhere.’’
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Schumer have been at an impasse over the issue of new testimony, leaving open the possibility of a protracted delay until the articles are delivered. Trump complained Saturday that the hold-up is “unfair” and claimed that Democrats are violatframework ing the Constitution.
Short called Pelosi’s delay unacceptable, saying she’s “trampling” Trump’s rights to “rush this through, and now we’re going to hold it up to demand a longer process in the Senate with more witnesses.”
“If her case is so air-tight … why does she need more witnesses to make her case?’’ Short said.
White House officials have highlighted Democrats’ arguments that removing Trump was an “urgent” matter before the House impeachment vote, as they seek to put pressure on Pelosi to send the articles of impeachment to the Senate.
McConnell has all but promised an easy acquittal of the president, and he appears to have secured Republican support for his plans to impose a
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Each weekday, subscribers can find a digital replica of the full USA TODAY print edition by selecting “View e-edition” under the “Sign in” area near the top of our website. drawn from the 1999 impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton. That trial featured a 100-0 vote on arrangements that established two weeks of presentations and argument before a partisan tally in which thenminority Republicans called a limited number of witnesses.
That sparked a fight with Pelosi and Schumer, who are demanding trial witnesses who refused to appear during House committee hearings.
A close Trump ally, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Pelosi will fail in her quest “to get Mitch McConnell to bend to her will to shape the trial.”
“She’ll eventually send the articles because public opinion will crush the Democrats,” said Graham. Asked whether he expected witnesses in the Senate, he replied: “No, I don’t.”