Pelosi reiterates caution on impeachment, saying "we're not there yet"
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reiterated her caution toward immediately launching impeachment proceedings against President Trump, saying Tuesday she believes the House needs to continue investigations into his conduct. Speaking at the TIME 100 Summit in New York, Pelosi added there are "many ways to hold the president of the United States accountable."
"This is about being totally free from passion, from prejudice, from politics, it's about the presentation of the facts. And when we the facts we'll have a better idea of how we go forward," Pelosi said. "Impeachment is one of the most divisive paths that we could go down in our country. But if the path of fact-finding takes us there, we have no choice. But we're not there yet."
On a conference call with 177 Democratic members on Monday, Pelosi and other Democratic leaders said various investigations by House committees should be allowed to run their course before deciding whether to pursue impeachment.
Some Democrats in the House have called for Mr. Trump to be impeached based on information provided in the report by special counsel Robert Mueller, which presented evidence the president may have committed obstruction of justice. Attorney General William Barr separately determined Mr. Trump did not obstruct justice.
On Tuesday, Pelosi indicated support for impeachment was not increasing in her caucus. She said 177 members of the Democratic caucus had participated in Monday's conference call.
"The investigations that our committees will conduct will take us down a fact-finding path," Pelosi said.