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"It's so unfair," Trump said, days after he was impeached by the
House, during a speech to conservative student group Turning
Point USA, saying that Pelosi adopted the strategy because she
has "no case."
"They are violating the Constitution," Trump said, calling
Pelosi "crazy Nancy."
The Democratic-controlled House voted on Dec. 18 to impeach
Trump, setting the stage for a trial in the Senate. Trump is
very unlikely to be convicted and removed from office by the
upper chamber of Congress because it is controlled by his
Republican Party. A two-thirds majority vote in the Senate is
needed for a conviction on impeachment charges.
Republicans and Democrats are at loggerheads over how the trial
will play out. Pelosi and other Democrats want to call top Trump
aides as witnesses and are seeking assurances that the trial
will be held on terms they consider fair.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell has said he is working
in tandem with the White House on trial preparations, drawing
accusations from Democrats that he is ignoring his duty to
consider the evidence in an impartial manner.
Pelosi has not yet sent the impeachment package to the Senate in
a bid to increase pressure on Republicans there. Pelosi has also
not yet announced the managers, or prosecutors, who will present
evidence in the trial.
"Until the House gets a clearer picture of what a Senate trial
will look like, the Speaker will not be in the position to
appoint managers and take the next steps in holding this
President accountable and ensuring the Senate fulfills its
constitutional duty," Pelosi's office said in a statement on
Saturday.
Pelosi's office said senators have a constitutional obligation
to conduct a "fair process that provides both the Senators, who
will act as jurors, and the public with the opportunity to
understand the full extent of President Trump’s abuse of power."
Trump is accused of abusing his power by holding back $391
million in security aid to Ukraine in an effort to get Kiev to
announce a corruption investigation of former Vice President Joe
Biden, a leading candidate for the Democratic nomination to face
Trump in the November 2020 election.
The president is also charged with obstruction of Congress for
directing administration officials and agencies not to cooperate
with the impeachment inquiry.
Trump says he did nothing wrong and has dismissed his
impeachment as a partisan bid to undo his 2016 election win.
(Reporting by Alexandra Alper, Jan Wolfe and Susan Cornwell;
Editing by Leslie Adler)
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