ABC News: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was quoted Monday as saying she is not in favor of impeaching President Donald Trump, breaking from other Democrats who are eager to exercise their constitutional power to oust the president from office.
In an exclusive interview with the Washington Post’s Joe Heim, Pelosi said Trump is “just not worth it.”
“I’m not for impeachment,” Pelosi, D-Calif., said. “This is news. I’m going to give you some news right now because I haven’t said this to any press person before.”
To date, Pelosi has demurred on the matter, telling reporters that impeachment and even an indictment were “open questions,” saying she’d like to learn the results of the special counsel Robert Mueller’s report before deciding on a course of action.
While Pelosi is stating her personal preference, she left some wiggle room to launch impeachment proceedings if the report reveals “something so compelling and overwhelming and bipartisan.”
“Impeachment is so divisive to the country that unless there’s something so compelling and overwhelming and bipartisan, I don’t think we should go down that path, because it divides the country,” Pelosi said. “And he’s just not worth it.”
A Pelosi spokesperson told ABC News her office is not commenting any further.
This might be the latest talking point for Pelosi regarding Trump’s impeachment prospects, but there’s a genuine realization in the House Democratic Caucus that impeachment would be a waste of time with a Republican-controlled Senate Senate serving as a firewall to protect the president from conviction.
Instead, House Democrats are likely to maintain their pursuit of the president through investigations – hoping to discredit him so much that he’s unelectable in 2020.
