Dear Commons Community,

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that barring “overwhelming” new evidence she would not pursue impeachment against President Trump because it would be too divisive and “he’s just not worth it.”

“I’m not for impeachment,” said Pelosi in an interview with the Washington Post published yesterday. “This is news. I’m going to give you some news right now because I haven’t said this to any press person before. But since you asked, and I’ve been thinking about this: 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. And he’s just not worth it.”

Impeachment by the House of Representatives, which Democrats control, can be accomplished by a simple majority. But to remove Trump from office would require a two-thirds majority vote in the Republican-led Senate.

Pelosi’s comments echo those by House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-NY, in an interview with Politico publisher earlier yesterday.

“You don’t want to divide the country, so you have to think you have such a case that once the case is finished being presented, enough people understand you had to do it,” said Nadler.

A poll of Iowa Democrats released over the weekend found only 22 percent of respondents saying they cared “a lot” about impeachment, far lower than issues like health care (81 percent), climate change (80 percent) or income inequality (67 percent).

Other Democrats are more enthusiastic. Freshman Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., made headlines in January for saying of the president “We’re going to impeach this mother***er” at a MoveOn event in Washington, D.C. Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Cal., first introduced articles of impeachment against Trump for obstruction of justice in July 2017.

I think this is a wise and judicious view on Pelosi’s part.  Of course everyone is waiting with bated breadth to see what Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation will yield.

Tony

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