House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) speaks at a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, May 23, 2019. (The New York Times)US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday blasted President Donald Trump’s comments saying that he would take assistance from a foreign entity ahead of the 2020 election but stopped short of saying they could trigger impeachment.
Speaking to reporters, the US House of Representatives’ top Democrat said her caucus would continue to investigate Trump and his administration through their various committees, one day after Trump said he would take information from foreign sources on any political opponents and might not contact the FBI.
“Yesterday, the president gave us, once again, evidence that he does not know right from wrong,” Pelosi told reporters at a news conference. “Everybody in the country should be totally appalled by what the president said last night.”
On Wednesday, Trump told ABC News in an a televised interview that there was nothing wrong with accepting foreign assistance and he might not report such interference to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Legal experts have said such foreign assistance could violate campaign finance law.
Pelosi, under pressure from more progressive members of her caucus to launch a formal impeachment inquiry, said Trump’s statement was “appalling” and “totally unethical,” but that House Democrats would methodically pursue their various investigations.
“As we go down this path to seek the truth for the American people and to hold the president accountable, it has nothing to do with politics or any campaign,” she said.
