Trump legislative director says Trump is "baffled" by Pelosi
President Trump's legislative director says Mr. Trump is "baffled" by the possibility that Speaker Nancy Pelosi might withhold articles of impeachment from the Senate for an extended period of time. Pelosi said Thursday she would not send the articles to the Senate, and the House would not vote on impeachment managers until the Senate finalizes its plans for the impeachment trial.
"I think the president is completely baffled at the theory that Nancy Pelosi appears to have that somehow holding back impeachment articles will leverage some sort of specific behavior out of the Senate," Eric Ueland told CBS News chief Washington Correspondent Major Garrett in an interview for this week's episode of "The Takeout" podcast.
The House voted to impeach Mr. Trump on two articles — abuse of power and obstruction of Congress — on Wednesday. Since the House finished up its final votes on Thursday, any vote on impeachment managers will not occur until January — which means that the articles will not be delivered to the Senate until next year. Ueland suggested that holding the articles could be "constitutionally questionable." He also said it would be "extraordinarily unprecedented" if articles were to be withheld in order to force a legislative outcome.
Ueland also talked about his role in helping the president draft a scathing six-page letter to Pelosi, in which Mr. Trump soundly condemned the impeachment process and the speaker.
"You are the ones interfering in America's elections," Mr. Trump wrote in his letter. "You are the ones subverting America's Democracy. You are the ones Obstructing Justice. You are the ones bringing pain and suffering to our Republic for your own selfish personal, political, and partisan gain."
Ueland said that the president dictated and edited the letter and that the final version "clearly reflects his views."
"The president wants to record for history his thoughts, his opinions, his feelings on a very unfair process," Ueland said.
He also talked about the process in creating such documents, saying that the president calls staff members into the Oval Office to discuss the drafts.
For more of Major's conversation with Ueland, download "The Takeout" podcast on iTunes, GooglePlay, Spotify and Stitcher. New episodes are available every Friday morning. Also, you can watch "The Takeout" on CBSN Friday at 5pm, 9pm, and 12am ET and Saturday at 1pm, 9pm, and 12am ET. For a full archive of "The Takeout" episodes, visit www.takeoutpodcast.com. And you can listen to "The Takeout" on select CBS News Radio affiliates (check your local listings).
Producers: Arden Farhi, Jamie Benson and Sara Cook
CBSN Production: Eric Soussanin and Grace Segers
Show email: TakeoutPodcast@cbsnews.com
Twitter: @TakeoutPodcast
Instagram: @TakeoutPodcast
Facebook: Facebook.com/TakeoutPodcast
Ueland also said it wouldFor more of Major's conversation with Ueland, download "The Takeout" podcast on iTunes, GooglePlay, Spotify and Stitcher. New episodes are available every Friday morning. Also, you can watch "The Takeout" on CBSN Friday at 5pm, 9pm, and 12am ET and Saturday at 1pm, 9pm, and 12am ET. For a full archive of "The Takeout" episodes, visit www.takeoutpodcast.com. And you can listen to "The Takeout" on select CBS News Radio affiliates (check your local listings).
Producers: Arden Farhi, Jamie Benson and Sara Cook
CBSN Production: Eric Soussanin and Grace Segers
Show email: TakeoutPodcast@cbsnews.com
Twitter: @TakeoutPodcast
Instagram: @TakeoutPodcast
Facebook: Facebook.com/TakeoutPodcast
