Sen. Lindsey Graham criticized House Speaker Nancy Pelosi after she announced that she would not hand over the articles of impeachment until she sees the process the Senate plans to use in its trial.
On Wednesday night, the House voted to impeach President Trump down a party-line vote on two articles: obstruction of Congress and abuse of power. Typically, impeachment would move from the House to the Senate for the trial on whether the president should be removed from office.
Pelosi, however, said she wouldn’t hand the articles over until she sees the process that will play out in the Senate. The speaker is responsible for choosing impeachment managers for the Senate to question in its trial, giving Pelosi the ability to hold up impeachment until the Senate plays by rules she agrees to.
“We cannot name managers until we see what the process is on the Senate side,” Pelosi said. “So far, we haven’t seen anything that looks fair to us. We are hoping it will be fairer, and when we see that, we’ll appoint managers.”
She also demanded that Trump hand over documents the House had requested before the Senate trial starts. She said: “We would hope that the information would be available in a trial to go to the next step, to serve another level. But, right now, the president is impeached.”
Graham was outraged by Pelosi’s decision.
“If House Dems refuse to send Articles of Impeachment to the Senate for trial it would be a breathtaking violation of the Constitution, an act of political cowardice, and fundamentally unfair to President,” Graham tweeted Thursday. “Not allowing the Senate to act on approved Articles of Impeachment becomes Constitutional extortion and creates chaos for the presidency. It also sets in motion a tremendous threat to our Constitutional system of checks and balances.”
He continued, “What is driving this crazy idea? Democrats have finally realized they have a very WEAK case which NEVER should have been brought forward to begin with. Nancy Pelosi’s threat to refuse to transmit the Articles of Impeachment to the Senate for disposition is an incredibly dumb and dangerous idea. There is a reason one person can’t be Speaker of the House and Senate Majority Leader at the same time!”
Not allowing the Senate to act on approved Articles of Impeachment becomes Constitutional extortion and creates chaos for the presidency.
It also sets in motion a tremendous threat to our Constitutional system of checks and balances.
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) December 19, 2019
Nancy Pelosi’s threat to refuse to transmit the Articles of Impeachment to the Senate for disposition is an incredibly dumb and dangerous idea.
There is a reason one person can’t be Speaker of the House and Senate Majority Leader at the same time!
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) December 19, 2019
The South Carolina Republican has been a staunch defender of Trump throughout impeachment proceedings. Both Graham and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have said they will not be impartial jurors in the Senate trial.
