We have to have confidence in Nancy Pelosi

[boston bean]

She is a political animal. She has proven herself over and over.

She will know what is best for our chances in 2020.

If we can all hang together and support our representatives that will make us stronger.

My hope is that we don’t start eating our own over the “whether to impeach or investigate” the effer.

[manor321]

1. We have to impeach. We have no choice.

No impeachment means we're defining all of this behavior as OK for Trump and future presidents.

AND TRUMP IS STILL COMMITTING CRIMES RIGHT NOW!

THERE IS NO CHOICE!

[boston bean]

5. I am not deaf to that concern and cannot disagree with it.

The issue is she will know the best way for us to win in 2020. What good does an impeachment do to get us out of this shit show if his non conviction in the senate strengthens him in the election?

Maybe the best way forward would be to keep investigations going and beat his corrupt ass in 2020 and then prosecute the fucker after he leaves office.

There are a lot of considerations. That is all I am saying.

[elfin]

44. I agree.

But if he somehow manages to steal the election (again) we can bring the hammer down immediately with all the evidence gathered now. And we may pick up enough strength in the Senate to lead to a conviction.

I think it is a waste of our resources to go through the impeachment trial, but not a waste to conduct exhaustive investigations.

Right now, this Senate will never convict. Never never never. Then Trump can strut and crow that he WON WON WON. and that he is a true "winner" and the Dems will look pathetically weak. Right before the election.

[Chin music]

55. You are making a statement that is unproven. The Senate may change it's mind.

None of us know the future or we'd be billionaires. To say the senate won't convict is just an opinion and we won't know until it's done.
That's like a prosecuter who knows someones guilty, not having a trial, bc he's afraid a jury wouldn't convict. That rarely happens, and it shouldn't with a foul individual who is bringing this great nation down at home, and around the world. Appearances matter to our allies. We are obligated to follow the law. The law, and the report, points to imeachment regardless of the outcome.
It's not all about the Senate, it's about all of us, and taking out the trash.
We havent even seen the redacted parts and the redacted parts don't seem to be exposing military secrets, they "appear' to be redacted to protect individuals and foreign govts.
This pre-judgement of what the senate will do, is pure speculation. When their heads are on the chopping block, repubs come around. At the end of the day, they think of themselves first. And don trump isn't in front of them in that 'me first' analysis. Thats my speculation to your speculation.
If he's not impeached, this will be the new normal. Imagine him AFTER he's president. He still gets a daily briefing on Americas intel. Whats the point of17 intel agencies at enormous costs, if trump and his kids are just going to sell it like a product?
HAS to be done.

[lagomorph777]

57. That's so cute. The Russiapublicans in the Senate who are up to their eyeballs in Kompromat?

They know they are in deep shit and must hang together, or be hanged separately.

[Chin music]

58. You know this how?

And I consider that a nasty remark. Arent the rules supposed to be to be nice to each other?

[lagomorph777]

63. I apologize for my tone to you. But McConnell and his Russiapublicans can burn in Hell.

Mueller provides one of the many indications that the Senate Russiapublicans are in deep.

Richard Burr shared classified investigation info with the White House. He had been one of the few who seemed less implicated. That turned out to be a false hope.

[Chin music]

64. I forgive you. Happy Easter.

[lagomorph777]

65. Much obliged.

And don't put all your eggs in one basket.

[tymorial]

54. This is exactly right.

2020 must be our primary concern at the moment. While I do not disagree that in an ideal world Trump would be impeached and then removed from office by the Senate; we don't live in an ideal world. I have little confidence that Republicans will back impeachment in the house and some democrats in red states will be hesitant as well. As for the Senate, there is zero probability that McConnell will allow any vote for removal even if the house successfully impeached Trump.

The ultimate question that must be answered is who benefits from impeachment and a failed removal? Would the Senate's failure to act be taken as evidence of republican corruption and create votes for the democrat candidate or would failure to remove embolden Trump and his supporters. Would he (and the media) be able to successfully spin the narrative that the democrats were wasting their time and the Senate was justified in not supporting impeachment?

There is no guarantee that the democrats will take over in 2020. I hope to the gods that we do. However, if we don't, we MUST maintain the house (at least). WE cannot afford to give Trump a sympathetic congress. That can never happen again.

So yeah, I'd like to see Trump impeached but is it worth it? I will accept the decision of the house and hope reasoned consideration prevails and not emotionalism (Yeah I know that last part is going to piss people off).

[BeyondGeography]

13. +1

[world wide wally]

47. If we impeach, it may piss off always pissed off Republicans.

If we DON'T impeach, it will piss off a lot of Democrats.
We need every possible Democrat to vote in 2020.
Do your job and don't alienate any of our voters. Don't let the only group of climate deniers, anti-science supporters and wealth-fare advocates in the world dictate what we do.

[lagomorph777]

56. Actually, the choices are not binary (impeach/don't impeach). INVESTIGATE FIRST.

Put all of Turd's brazen lawbreaking and corruption on full display. Not just his well-demonstrated Russian collusion (c'mon we didn't need Mueller to see that - he does it on TV and Twitworld every day). I also mean his depraved kidnapping at the border, his destruction of the environment, his tax scam - and the corruption underlying all the evil behavior.

Get it all out in front of the public. Build momentum. Then assess whether to use that momentum as an electoral bludgeon, support for impeachment, or both.

[ehrnst]

61. Reason.

What a breath of fresh air in all of the teeth gnashing.

[ehrnst]

60. Because you say so? Nancy thinks otherwise, and she has the chops. (nt)

[watoos]

2. I didn't realize there was a debate over whether to investigate?

Are you saying that Democrats should ignore Mueller's 2 years of hard work, ignore his road map?

[boston bean]

6. Is that what you read in my post?

[Honeycombe8]

30. Yes, there is a debate about whether to seek impeachment.

Pelosi has never voiced an interest in impeachment. Stenny Hoyer just issued a statement yesterday that impeachment is not on the table, now that we are approaching an election. But I believe other Dem leaders want to pursue impeachment.

So yes, there is a debate.If you read in DU, you'll see the whys and wherefores of it. It it not an automatic thing the Dems want, and there may be downsides to it.

[stopdiggin]

72. Wait, wait!

The post above says "investigation." You do see the difference?

[Honeycombe8]

74. Oops. My bad. I misread. As Roseann Roseannadanna would say, "never mind." nt

[RandiFan1290]

3. Deja Vu

[boston bean]

9. That is a simplistic view of this situation. They are not comparable.

[Mr Tibbs]

4. Trumps personal charity "Collapsed in illegality"

It was being used as a Trump family checkbook. Felonies abound. Nothing to see here folks.

[watoos]

45. Trump is an unindicted co-conspirator

in the Stormy Daniels cover up.

Individual 1 - Pence - 2020.

[ElementaryPenguin]

7. This Presidential behavior cannot be tolerated - it's bigger than this next election!

We are heading towards an absolute dictatorship if Trump is allowed to serve out his term without being impeached - or, yes, indicted!

Our democracy - as we've known it - is effectively over if this is deemed acceptable.

Anyway - IMPEACHING TRUMP IS CERTAINLY NOT GOING TO HELP HIS CHANCE FOR REELECTION.

It may have politically helped Clinton, because he was being accused of the unimpeachable offense of being a bad husband and getting a blow-job!!!

That's hardly the same thing as effectively committing TREASON - helping our greatest foreign adversary take control of our federal government - which is what Putin has had for the last couple of years!!

[boston bean]

8. Impeachment is not the only way forward.

Investigations dribbling out info may work better to purge him from office in 2020 then indict him on the day he leaves.

[TwilightZone]

22. Agreed.

The binary thinking around here is getting tiresome, especially the nonsense about not impeaching TODAY meaning that we're condoning Trump's behavior or that other avenues for exposing him aren't available.

[boston bean]

23. We can't start impeachment today.

We don’t have all the evidence to conduct proper hearings.

People need to take a step back and think these things through.

Congress must have the grand jury testimony in order to hold witnesses accountable.

[TwilightZone]

24. Agreed, again.

We get one shot at this. We have to make it count.

[boston bean]

25. Yep. I just keep trying to reinforce this for people reading.

Please know I am not trying to challenge you. I know we are on same page.

[watoos]

48. I hope you are right,

IMO we aren't going to get the information because Republicans are going to stone wall our investigations. They are going to ignore turning over documents, fight subpoenas in the courts until it gets close to election time and then they will use the excuse that they don't want to dirty the waters heading into the election.

Want to get more information? Start impeachment. Barr promised to released the grand jury redactions for impeachment proceedings, that's where the juicy information is, in the grand jury testimony.
Time is important and from what I see Republicans are winning by playing 4 corners defense.

What will your opinion be when Barr unleashes his investigations into the FBI and into Democrats who carried out a witch hunt against Trump? Why he may even investigate Hillary again. What a perfect campaign strategy to once again put Hillary Clinton on the 2020 ballot.

[Chakaconcarne]

27. While I don't necessarily believe impeachment now is best....

We most CERTAINLY have enough evidence to start proceedings if we wanted.

[boston bean]

41. That is bologne. It would be giving witnesses to tailor

their testimony favorably to the president, and congress would not know because they don't have the transcripts of the grand jury.

Impeachment cannot start today.

[watoos]

50. Barr promised to release grand jury information

for impeachment hearings. IMO, that's the only way Democrats are going to get that information. Republicans will stall until it gets too close to the election.

[boston bean]

73. I do not believe that is the ONLY way. And if it turned out to be the case it would be

acceptable to start impeachment to get to all the facts.

[Funtatlaguy]

29. Yes. First, get the unredacted report, then subpoena people

That Mueller didn’t like Junior and Jarvanka.
Keep it all out there drip drip dripping.

[2naSalit]

62. Indeed...

there are other processes available but they all take time and too many are impatient as well as the fact that swift action is needed to end this reign of terror for our country.

Impeachment is the only tool most people can think of and because it appears to some to be the most expedient manner of action, but perhaps not. The Democratic caucus in the House is well aware of why they were elected, I hope they can keep up the effort to stop the destruction from expanding.

[Lulu KC]

38. +1

[stillcool]

78. I would love..

to see some GOP members caught up in the investigations. They probably wouldn't be able to impeach fast enough. I really like the idea of criminal charges.

[llmart]

11. I'm in agreement with you on this one.

Yes, we want to win the next election, but this is about something more important and that is saving democracy in our country and not setting a precedent for others in the future to repeat the criminal behavior.

When we win, we absolutely need to pass legislation that specifically states a sitting President CAN be indicted. None of this wishy washy, we've never done it in the past nonsense.

[DeminPennswoods]

14. Not sure this is a good idea

You don't really want indictments to be used a weapon against a president with whom one might just have policy disagreements. Think Starr report on steroids.

[world wide wally]

49. And the Republicans won the next Congressional election, the next Senatorial election, and

the next Presidential election.

[Honeycombe8]

31. As long as you're aware what you might be giving up.

Taking away another four years of Trump, where he may do Lord knows what, now that he has gotten away with his criminal behavior. National Parks being drilled and destroyed, the loss of habitat for more wildlife, more global warming, fewer environmental rules and regs to protect our water and air, more tax cuts for the super-wealthy, another Supreme Court nominee....

That could be the tradeoff for impeaching Trump on paper. We can't remove him. Just put it on the record that the House impeached him.

[in2herbs]

36. I agree. nt

[democratisphere]

10. I have confidence in Pelosi, Schiff and Nadler, as well as others,

to make the right choices regarding drumpf et al. They have access to information unavailable to the rest of US. We have very smart people.

[BeyondGeography]

12. She just needs to listen to Maxine Waters and she'll be fine

“At this point, Congress’s failure to impeach is complacency in the face of the erosion of our democracy and constitutional norms,” Ms. Waters said. “Congress’s failure to impeach would set a dangerous precedent and imperil the nation as it would vest too much power in the executive branch and embolden future officeholders to further debase the U.S. presidency, if that’s even possible.”

[crazytown]

28. Precedent is not going to constrain a future congress

anymore than this one is informed by the impeachment of President Clinton. The argument to impeach is moral.

[BeyondGeography]

35. It would define Democrats at the very least

as a party that puts politics ahead of constitutional duty. You could say the same thing about Republicans re Clinton of course, the key difference being the merits of the case.

[DeminPennswoods]

15. If she just sets up a select committee to air all the facts

and let the same witnesses who spoke to Mueller give their statements in public so Americans can listen and learn, imho, that would be enough.

[boston bean]

16. I also think public hearings would be sufficient. However, Congress needs all underlying evidence

In their hands in order to question properly. We have to get that first.

[DeminPennswoods]

17. No doubt about it

nt

[Honeycombe8]

34. If Congress is not going to DO anything with information, hearings are pointless.

They're very expensive and time consuming. They are used for political grandstanding by individuals. They distract the politicians from working on issues that matter more to voters (like health care, tax reform, jobs).

If there's no point to the hearings, they are pointless.

[stillcool]

79. that would be wonderful..

I think communication and information is an absolute necessity. And I think some very smart, very rich people have to help us out.

[Baltimike]

18. this. nt

[mtnsnake]

19. Her saying that he just isn't worth impeaching doesn't do much for my confidence level. nt

[boston bean]

20. She is walking a tight rope.

She ain’t against us.

[mcar]

21. K&R

[mainstreetonce]

26. I agree

We have to have faith in Nancy.

She is strong.I stand with her.

[mopinko]

32. she is gonna keep saying no until she is ready to pull the trigger.

then katy bar the door.

and dont think that the members who are saying it now dont have her permission. she is letting them stoke the flames.
she might just wait till we start to see people in the streets.

but when she thinks the people are ready, she will go.

[Lulu KC]

40. +1

[George II]

33. I do. I'm confident she, Nadler, and Schiff will do the right thing....

....There's enough in that report to build a good case.

What they have to do is methodically put together a list of witnesses who, with the benefit of the report, HAVE to tell the truth. They also have to keep the rogue Democratic representatives from blowing up the case. And your final comment is 100% correct - there have already been calls to "subpoena this", "subpoena that", "impeach", etc. That's not helpful.

Another thing to remember is that there are 14 other investigations and possible prosecutions, too.

[Hortensis]

81. Yes. They and others are a TEAM.

Much as I admire Nancy, I have to deplore the need of some to believe ”she alone can fix this.” She’s neither a cult nor an authoritarian leader but one of our elected Democratic house caucus leaders.

I also have confidence in all of them.

[beachbum bob]

37. Pelosi knows politics and timing, making next 18 months hell for trump and GOP to

defend him will serve us well in Nov 2020 elections and beyond. Make an impeachment hearing in the house last 6 months to come up the articles of impeachment and be on TV everyday without filter

[LovingA2andMI]

39. Only If The Leader Is Leading The Right Way....

And the Right Way would be to IMPEACH or CENSURE. Anything else is not acceptable after what is known NOW from the Mueller Report.

[SHRED]

42. We actively push our representatives

That's how this representative government works.
If we want something we need to call them and not sit back.

[brer cat]

43. I trust Pelosi and the other leaders

to investigate and then go where they need to.

[CaptainTruth]

46. I do, she knows what she's doing. Impeachment won't put him in jail & it would energize Repub voters

I hear some folks saying "we have to impeach," to which I reply, "no, we HAVE to win the White House in 2020 & hopefully the Senate too!"

Then Donald Trump will be out of office, a private citizen, & he can be indicted for every damn crime he's committed & if convicted, sent to jail, which impeachment cannot do.

We need to look at the big picture & think carefully before we do ANYTHING that reduces our chances of winning in 2020.

[watoos]

53. I disagree

that a failed impeachment conviction of Trump means he wins in 2020.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

51. Just as I've been saying for some time now.

Mueller would eventually issue a report to Congress, and they'd do nothing.

Hearings, as already pointed out, are meaningless if they don't lead to some kind of change.

[democrank]

52. Holding Donald Trump accountable for his crimes against our country

is of far greater importance than winning the next election. The criminal Trump and his enablers have hacked away at everything this country stands for....EVERYTHING....and it ha gone on long enough.

Am I “bashing” Nancy Pelosi or other Democratic Party leaders? NO.

[ehrnst]

59. I will not armchair quarterbacking her. She has access to way more information

and decades of experience that has been validated by the choice of her Democratic colleagues to be their marshal.

[honest.abe]

66. Agreed.

But it appears she may be heading in a new interesting direction..

[ehrnst]

71. Yes - that's the way Mueller took down Whitey Bulger.

Went after the smaller fish first, an that let the other fish know that they weren't going to be passed over in the quest for the big fish.

The other fish came around to cut a deal. And that led to what snared him the big fish.

Good on Nancy!

[nini]

67. The issue I have with all these hand wringers is..

.. they're ignoring the fact Pelosi/Schiff etc are indeed working on getting all the evidence needed. Unfortunately in today's climate and repuke controlled Senate this isn't going to be a slam dunk for impeachment.


She is a brilliant Speaker. As hard as it is we have to have patience for the process to play out. She knows how to handle trump.. We live in an era of instant info via the internet etc. We forget process takes time and we simply do not have the patience for it anymore.

Nixon didn't go down on demand - we have to remember that regardless of how frustrated we all are.

[LiberalArkie]

68. I do not have confidence in anyone.

I seem to remember that the voters were told that the Patriot Act would be repealed, Guantanamo Bay would be shut done all sorts of things. We are dealing with the Patriot Act at the souther border. No telling how many of the congress critters have been compromised by telephone taps and email taps due to the Patriot Act and "Total Information Awareness".

Nothing changes because everyone is compromised and none of the congress critters want any of the voters to know it.

[bluestarone]

69. I'm 100% for impeachment

As soon as our leaders say, it's time to impeach!! They have the info needed! I know it's hard to see day after day go by, BUT we just have to have faith in them!! I just want the hearings ( SUBPOENAS)to START! I feel once they start doing this we will ALL feel better!

[loyalsister]

70. She counts her votes

She may think or even know that articles of impeachment have no chance of being voted out if committee much less fully supported by all of the Democrats.
Imagine the backlash Dems who voted against it would face here. She very well may not have the votes. I trust her on this because she has a lot more information than any of us.

[Talitha]

75. I've been torn on this... impeach now, or wait till 2020?

Nothing would make me happier than to see Twitler impeached. On the other hand, I really really trust that Nancy knows what's best. If I had her brains and political experience, I'd know what road to take - and why, too. But I don't. So I've decided to trust her, and support her decisions... Nancy knows her stuff.

[at140]

77. barely 18 months to next election...

Not enough time to impeach and remove, especially since senate is 53:47 against us, it will suck oxygen away from our nominee.

[at140]

76. Nancy P is right. Forget impeachment. Focus on winning in 2020

Win the white house and may be the senate. That not only removes Trump from power, but it changes direction the country is going under Trump.

[katmondoo]

80. I do support Her

She knows the score better than anyone else. It takes time to gather the information to make a formidable inquiry to convict especially if that person is Trump.