A day after the House Judiciary Committee’s impeachment hearing, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi made it official Thursday morning: the Democrats are moving forward on drafting articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump.
“The president’s actions have seriously violated the Constitution,” Pelosi told reporters on Capitol Hill Thursday. The president, she claimed, “leaves us no choice but to act.”
“Sadly, but with confidence and humility, with allegiance to our Founders, and our heart full of love for America, today I am asking our chairmen to proceed with the articles of impeachment,” said Pelosi, in comments reported by CNBC.
While the speaker addressed the media for over five minutes, she notably took no questions.
The drafting of the impeachment articles is now up to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-NY).
Within minutes of her announcement, both President Trump and the White House responded.
After having issued a taunting series of tweets to the Democrats early Thursday in which he said, “if you are going to impeach me, do it now, fast,” Trump responded to Pelosi’s statement by pushing back on her claim about the Founders and suggesting that the Democrats’ impeachment push has actually been a big “win” for Republicans.
“The Do Nothing, Radical Left Democrats have just announced that they are going to seek to Impeach me over NOTHING. They already gave up on the ridiculous Mueller ‘stuff,’ so now they hang their hats on two totally appropriate (perfect) phone calls with the Ukrainian President,” Trump tweeted shortly after Pelosi’s announcement. “This will mean that the beyond important and seldom used act of Impeachment will be used routinely to attack future Presidents. That is not what our Founders had in mind. The good thing is that the Republicans have NEVER been more united. We will win!”
….This will mean that the beyond important and seldom used act of Impeachment will be used routinely to attack future Presidents. That is not what our Founders had in mind. The good thing is that the Republicans have NEVER been more united. We will win!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 5, 2019
White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham also issued a defiant and optimistic response to Pelosi and her fellow Democrats.
“[Speaker Pelosi] & the Democrats should be ashamed,” wrote Grisham. “[President Trump] has done nothing but lead our country – resulting in a booming economy, more jobs & a stronger military, to name just a few of his major accomplishments. We look forward to a fair trial in the Senate.”
.@SpeakerPelosi & the Democrats should be ashamed. @realDonaldTrump has done nothing but lead our country – resulting in a booming economy, more jobs & a stronger military, to name just a few of his major accomplishments. 🇺🇸 We look forward to a fair trial in the Senate.
— Stephanie Grisham (@PressSec) December 5, 2019
Trump started off Thursday by issuing a statement to the Democrats.
“The Do Nothing Democrats had a historically bad day yesterday in the House,” Trump wrote in a pair of taunting tweets early Thursday morning. “They have no Impeachment case and are demeaning our Country. But nothing matters to them, they have gone crazy. Therefore I say, if you are going to impeach me, do it now, fast, so we can have a fair trial in the Senate, and so that our Country can get back to business.”
…..trial in the Senate, and so that our Country can get back to business. We will have Schiff, the Bidens, Pelosi and many more testify, and will reveal, for the first time, how corrupt our system really is. I was elected to “Clean the Swamp,” and that’s what I am doing!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 5, 2019
Pelosi’s decision to move forward with submitting articles of impeachment against the president followed the House Judiciary Committee hearing Wednesday in which four law professors gave their expert opinions on whether or not Trump’s alleged actions were impeachable.
Only one of the witnesses, George Washington University Law School’s Jonathan Turley, was a Republican-requested witness. While the three Democratic witnesses all maintain the Democrats’ pro-impeachment arguments, Turley — a self-described Trump critic who voted against Trump in 2016 and for both Barack Obama and Bill Clinton — argued that there is indeed an “abuse of power” going on, but by the Democrat-led Congress, not Trump, and that impeaching on such thin evidence sets a “dangerous” precedent.
Related: WATCH: Republican’s ‘Raise Your Hand’ Question At Impeachment Hearing Goes Viral