In an interview with Savannah Guthrie of NBC News, Nancy Pelosi pointedly left open the door to a possible impeachment of Donald Trump. The new speaker of the House indicated that Democrats would not impeach for “purely political reasons,” and that she was inclined to wait for a final report from special counsel Robert Mueller. But while acknowledging that impeachment would be divisive, and not necessarily a political “win” for Democrats, Pelosi did not take it off the table.
“We shouldn't be impeaching for a political reason, and we shouldn't avoid impeachment for a political reason.”
The speaker also dismissed legal theorizing that Trump cannot be indicted, saying that “everything indicates” that Trump could be indicted after he left office. She also disagreed with Department of Justice guidelines that Trump could not be indicted while still in office, saying that she did not think those DOJ rulings were “conclusive.”
Guthrie: So you think it’s possible that special counsel Mueller could indict a sitting president?
Pelosi: Let’s just see what Mueller does.
Pressed by Guthrie to state that Mueller could possibly indict Trump while he is still in office, in advance of impeachment, Pelosi responded that the idea was “still an open discussion.”