Nancy Pelosi just ripped Mitch McConnell to shreds

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic House leadership are holding a press conference right now, moments after they impeached Donald Trump. Pelosi decided to take questions, and one reporter asked if and when she plans to send the articles of impeachment to the Senate. She responded by going right at Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell by name.

Nancy Pelosi pulled out a piece of paper and read the recent quote in which Mitch McConnell said he’s not planning to be an impartial juror, and that he’s planning to coordinate the Senate impeachment trial with Donald Trump’s White House Counsel. Pelosi then made clear that she’s not specifically threatening to not send the articles; she was merely answering the question.

This is notable because Pelosi is forcing McConnell to think twice about his vow to hold a rigged Senate impeachment trial. If McConnell wants to actually get his hands on these articles of impeachment so that he can acquit Donald Trump, he’s now going to have to find a way to make some kind of concessions to Pelosi’s standards of fairness.

We’ll see how this plays out. But as Palmer Report spelled out before today’s vote took place, Nancy Pelosi holds all the cards on impeachment, while Mitch McConnell holds none. Pelosi can send the articles to the Senate now, or negotiate the terms under which they’ll be sent (which she appears to be doing), or wait and send them at the politically worst time for McConnell. She can also send these two articles now, and then send more articles next year after the Senate has acquitted Trump on these two articles.