Earlier this month, congressional Democrats passed two articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump, according to Fox News, one of which accused the president of engaging in “abuse of power,” a claim that arose out of his infamous July telephone call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky.
At the time, critics alleged that Trump had sought a quid pro quo with the foreign leader by offering military aid to Ukraine in return for Zelensky opening an investigation into alleged election interference and misconduct. But House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) just flipped that allegation on its head, suggesting Sunday that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), the initiator of the impeachment inquiry, may be guilty of a “quid pro quo” of her own.
Pelosi’s “quid pro quo”
According to Breitbart, Scalise’s claims came on the latest episode of Fox News Sunday, where the Louisiana Republican offered his thoughts on why Pelosi still hasn’t sent the articles of impeachment against Trump, which were passed along party lines in the House on Dec. 18, to the Senate for trial.
“It’s her duty to turn it over. It’s not like some mechanism she can control. The House passed it,” Scalise said. “They shouldn’t have,” he noted.
The Republican insisted that “every one of [the Democrats’] witnesses testified under oath saying there was no crime, saying there was no quid pro quo.” Yet Dems still voted to impeach — something that has Scalise setting his sights on Pelosi.
“Maybe she’s trying to carry out her own quid pro quo,” he speculated, “by acting as if she’s got some kind of role in the Senate trial.”
Democrats’ “weak case”
Scalise went on to suggest that Democrats had a “weak case” — and Pelosi knows it.
“I think she knows they had a weak case. There was no evidence and no crime committed, and yet they still wanted to impeach the president to appease their radical base,” Scalise lamented, according to Breitbart. “That’s what this was about from the beginning. They’ve neglected a real agenda for hardworking families, by the way.”
He added: “What you’re seeing right now, I think Pelosi is exposing the fact she has no case and trying to have one more bite at the apple.”
Scalise isn’t the only one to have argued that the Democrats’ case against the president is lacking. Attorney Alan Dershowitz also argued as much in an opinion piece he penned for The Hill earlier this month.
“Neither of these proposed articles satisfy the express constitutional criteria for an impeachment, which are limited to ‘treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors,'” Dershowitz wrote ahead of the House’s vote. “Neither are high or low crimes or misdemeanors. Neither are mentioned within the Constitution.”
Indeed, Democrats have accused Trump of abuse of power and obstruction of justice, but when it comes to evidence, they’ve ended up empty-handed. Now, Pelosi is doing all she can to save face — but is it too late? Only time will tell.
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