GOP Spins Pelosi Threat To Withhold Articles As Dems Getting ‘Cold Feet’

WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 13: House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) holds his weekly news conference at the U.S. Capitol June 13, 2019 in Washington, DC. In the wake of remarks by President Donald Trump that he wou... WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 13: House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) holds his weekly news conference at the U.S. Capitol June 13, 2019 in Washington, DC. In the wake of remarks by President Donald Trump that he would accept compromising information about a political opponent from a foreign power, McCarthy said that he would support legislation proposed by Democrats that would require people to report to the FBI if they are approached with offers of that information. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) MORE LESS
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While House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) insists withholding articles from the Senate temporarily is just a procedural move, Republicans have already fully spun the delay as a sign Democrats are getting “cold feet” about impeachment.

First thing Thursday morning, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) took to the Senate floor to decry the legitimacy of the impeachment case and to cryptically claim the Senate has a “clear duty,” without actually spelling out what step the Senate would take once the articles arrived from the House.

But he spent most of his speech accusing Democrats of getting “cold feet” and mocking Pelosi for being “too afraid” to send her “shoddy work product” over to the Senate. The talking point is quickly becoming a Republican deflection strategy just one day after their party’s President was impeached in the House.

While Pelosi did threaten to delay sending the articles to the Senate until there was a clear Senate trial plan on Wednesday evening, she started to back off the idea that she’s using the articles as leverage on Thursday morning. During her weekly press conference, she called the delay standard operating procedure, suggesting she couldn’t send the articles over until she knows how many impeachment managers to send, a number she couldn’t determine until she knows how the Senate plans to handle the trial.

But that hasn’t stopped Republicans from seizing on the slightly muddled messaging for their own political purposes. Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Lindsey Graham (R-SC) called the move a “constitutional crisis” in a tweet, before telling reporters on Thursday that it was “incredibly dangerous” for Democrats to hold onto the articles.

“You pass articles of impeachment in the House, you refuse to send them to the Senate until the Senate constructs a trial of your liking as speaker of the House,” he said. “We have separation of powers for a reason. You can’t be speaker of the House and majority leader in the Senate at the same time.”

Just before House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) gave his weekly press conference on Thursday, President Trump clearly got the memo, tweeting that House Democrats’ impeachment case is “so pathetic” that Pelosi is “afraid” to send it over to the Senate.

During his press conference, McCarthy embraced the spin.

“Now we have the own speaker of the House, who is so embarrassed, she admits the failure of this impeachment that she will not even send it to the Senate,” he said. “So embarrassed that I saw in her press conference that she wouldn’t even take your questions. That is not a good legacy to have. She is admitting defeat by not sending it. By refusing to send impeachment over, she know this outcome is not good.”

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Notable Replies

  1. You can’t say the Republicans are bad at propaganda.

  2. The @GOP #TreasonCaucus sounds scared.

  3. she started to back off the idea that she’s using the articles as leverage

    She should (and hopefully will) leverage the Articles of Impeachment for all they’re worth.

  4. Avatar for eglot eglot says:

    McCarthy still talking? I thought he was too busy cleaning out his desk.

  5. The one who is running scared is Trump. He needs a GOP exoneration. Otherwise, impeach! is the last word on that topic while investigations continue and criminal liability exposure piles up.

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