House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) criticized the House Judiciary Committee’s handling of its impeachment inquiry during a closed door meeting last week, Politico reported.
Pelosi believes that the panel has pushed for the impeachment of President Trump far beyond where the majority of the Democratic caucus stands and she pointed out that Democrats don’t have the votes needed to pass impeachment on the House floor.
The top congressional Democrat even encouraged attendees to share her thoughts on the debacle with the media: “And you can feel free to leak this,” she told those in the meeting, according to Politico.
It’s been widely reported that Pelosi and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-NY) are at odds over how far to take Democrats’ impeachment interests, but this meeting illustrates a broader disconnect in party interests than has been previously reported.
On one end of the spectrum, you have Nadler billing his panel’s hearing with former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski on Tuesday as the first official hearing of its impeachment investigation. On the other side, you have Pelosi, who, according to Politico, told moderate Democrats in a recent meeting that the party would remain cautious as it determines how to move forward on impeachment.
