On Thursday, members of the new Democrat-controlled House of Representatives are being sworn in to begin a new season of legislation. Donald Trump should be very worried, according to an interview that Nancy Pelosi sat for with Savannah Guthrie of The Today Show.
“Do you believe the special counsel should honor and observe the DOJ guidance that states a sitting president cannot be indicted?” –@savannahguthrie
“I do not think that that is conclusive. No, I do not.” -@NancyPelosi pic.twitter.com/Kyxy5SYCiY
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) January 3, 2019
Trump’s TV lawyer, Rudy Guiliani, continues to insist that, according to a Department of Justice memo during the Watergate Era, a sitting president cannot be indicted. Asked about that memo, Pelosi disagreed that the issue has been decided.
‘I do not think that that is conclusive…I think that that is an open discussion. I think that is an open discussion in terms of the law.’
“This is the Trump shutdown through and through… We want government to open.” -@NancyPelosi pic.twitter.com/KnpPPl2fSN
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) January 3, 2019
While it will most likely be Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report at the conclusion of his investigation into the allegation that the 2016 Trump presidential campaign conspired with Russian government operatives to commit cybercrimes in order to get Trump elected, other legal issues face the president, as well. His longtime personal lawyer and “fixer” Michael Cohen has already pleaded guilty to two felonies that he committed “at the direction of” Trump.
However, Pelosi says that the House is waiting to hear from Mueller and learn about that case specifically to make a move toward impeaching the president.
‘We have to wait and see what happens with the Mueller report. We shouldn’t be impeaching for a political reason, and we shouldn’t avoid impeachment for a political reason. So we’ll just have to see how it comes.’
Nancy Pelosi is set to reclaim the house, and @DanaBashCNN asked her about being the first and only woman to be House Speaker. Take a look. https://t.co/YBR1nyGla4 pic.twitter.com/jbwZzMj4yu
— New Day (@NewDay) January 3, 2019
Pelosi also held firm on the government shutdown, including who is responsible for it and what Democrats will agree to as they go forward. There won’t be any funding for the wall.
‘No, no. Nothing for the wall. We’re talking about border security. There is no amount of persuasion he can do to say to us, “We want you to do something that is not effective, that costs billions of dollars.” That sends the wrong message about who we are as a country.’
Two reasons @NancyPelosi is about to become Speaker of the House:
1. She is awesome.
2. GOP ran on building the Wall and hating on immigrants. Dems ran on healthcare and infrastructure. #GOP got crushed by the largest vote margin in US history.#ElectionsHaveConsequences https://t.co/M6SvAIAtt7
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) January 3, 2019
While Trump once “proudly” owned the shutdown before pivoting to insist that the shutdown belongs to Chuck Schumer and Pelosi for refusing him his funding, Pelosi corrected him in short fashion.
‘This is the Trump shutdown, through and through. That’s why he has proudly taken, in his view, proudly taken ownership of it. There’s no escaping that for him. That doesn’t mean we take any joy in the fact that there is a Trump shutdown. We want [the] government to open.’
It’s 2019 and Nancy Pelosi is the only woman pictured around the table for yesterday’s administration briefing with congressional leaders. (Kirstjen Nielsen participated via video.) pic.twitter.com/BhrfK5yuXk
— Philip Rucker (@PhilipRucker) January 3, 2019
Pelosi was also asked whether Trump treats her differently because she is a woman. Pelosi said she didn’t know if Trump knows “how to deal with women in power,” but that he would have no choice for the rest of his first (and hopefully only) presidential term.
‘I have no idea. We’ll see how he will deal with the speaker of the House. And that doesn’t matter whether you’re a woman or not. But I hope he recognizes that a new day has dawned in America.’
Featured image screenshot via YouTube
