Pelosi boosts state Dems
Attends state event after saying administration didn’t notify her of plans for possible strike on Iran
HARTFORD — As calls for an impeachment inquiry in the nation’s capital grow louder, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi arrived at the annual Democratic fundraiser on Friday still smarting from not being informed by President Donald Trump that the nation was 10 minutes away from attacking targets in Iran.
She hit the stage at about 8:15, and seemed to back away from getting too far into the machinations of a potential war with Iran and the growing calls for impeachment amid her congressional caucus.
During a mostly cheerleading speech before an expectant crowd of 1,000, Pelosi focused on Connecticut Democrats, but alluded to the reason for government. “Our three most important issues are our children, our children, our children,” she said.
Pelosi, who is managing more and more caucus members who now favor an impeachment probe, flew into the state Friday afternoon after expressing surprise — following an earlier
meeting with the president on the issue Thursday — that Trump came so close to a strike in apparent retaliation for the earlier destruction of an unmanned drone surveillance aircraft.
“We left with the idea that the president was going to consider some options,” she said in a report broadcast Friday by CNN from Washington. “I did not receive any headsup that there was a strike in the works. Maybe the other leaders did, but I did not receive any of that. And that would be a departure. The president has informed us, for example, in Syria, before we went in.”
As 1,000 gathered for pre-dinner cocktails in the Connecticut Convention Center, state Democrats took a wait-and-see attitude, doubting that Pelosi, 79, with Democrats back in control of the House after the 2018 mid-term elections, would pick Friday night to announce support for an impeachment investigation.
Even if the House were to make a political vote for impeachment, the Republican majority in the Senate would likely ignore it, just like Democrats in the Senate protected President Bill Clinton after impeached in 1998 over two sex-related cases, including a relationship with a White House intern.
Pelosi’s long-scheduled appearance was at the annual dinner named in honor of longtime Democratic leader John Bailey. It was formerly called the Jefferson Jackson Bailey dinner until Democrats dropped the presidents because they had held slaves. The sold-out, $200a-head stuffed-chicken-breast dinner included sharply escalating prices to thousands of dollars for tickets at tables with party luminaries.
“She is the most powerful woman in America,” said Nancy Wyman, the former lieutenant governor and the current state party chairman.
In what was called The Night of the Nancys, Nancy DiNardo of Trumbull received the party’s highest award for service. It is named for the late Gov. William A. O’Neill.
DiNardo, 70, a retired Bridgeport school psychologist, was a five-time chairman of the state party and now, as a member of the Democratic National Committee, is chairman of the DNC’s eastern regional caucus. She was among the state leaders who thought up the award and inaugurated it. She’s surprised she’s getting it now.
“We made it to recognize people who have worked hard for the party, whether it’s local or state,” DiNardo said Friday afternoon. “I’m very excited. From the time that it began we always recognized people who were dedicated to making the party better than it was. To be considered among those people, I am truly honored.”
Those in attendance included former Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, the state’s congressional delegation including U.S. Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy, U.S. Reps Jahana Hayes, Jim Himes, Rosa DeLauro, John Larson and Joe Courtney.
DeLauro, from the New Haven-centric 3rd District, danced out to the podium to introduce Pelosi, and announced how relieved she is to be among the House majority. “She has a spine of steel, my friends,” DeLauro said, calling Pelosi one of the most important and dedicated public officials in the nation at a time when the Trump administration is “lawless.”
Gov. Ned Lamont, during brief remarks, told Pelosi that state Democrats are proud of her work standing up for party values. He asked for Pelosi’s help in the national gun-safety effort, including an expansion of Connecticut’s recently approved ban on so-called untraceable ghost guns.
“What’s with Donald Trump and his boorish attitude toward women?” Lamont said. “We’re not going to let that happen in Connecticut.” Following attempts by Southern states that recently passed antiabortion measures, Lamont and Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz invited women-owned businesses to come to the state.
“You know what?” Lamont said. “We got some answers.”
“She has a spine of steel, my friends.”
U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., referring to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi