House

Pelosi to launch formal Trump impeachment inquiry

by Jessica Campisi and Scott Wong - 09/24/19 2:59 PM ET

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) will announce later Tuesday that she supports a formal impeachment inquiry into President Trump, a Democratic lawmaker close to her confirmed to The Hill.

The move comes amid mounting pressure from House Democrats to take a stand against Trump’s alleged political pressure on Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, during a July phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

{mosads}That call has come under increasing scrutiny over the past several days following the revelation that a whistleblower raised concerns about the discussion between the two leaders.

Pelosi is expected to make her announcement at 5 p.m. on the House floor after meetings with Democratic chairmen of six committees investigating Trump and his administration and with the full Democratic Caucus.

“As soon as we have the facts, we’re ready,” Pelosi said Tuesday at The Atlantic Festival. “Now we have the facts, we’re ready … for later today.”

A source familiar with the Tuesday afternoon meetings said Pelosi will endorse a previous request by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) that the heads of other committees send the Judiciary panel any oversight information or documents that could help with the investigations.

A lawmaker in one of the Tuesday meetings with Pelosi told The Hill there will not be a separate select committee to oversee or pursue the impeachment inquiry.

More than two-thirds of House Democrats publicly support an impeachment probe. Pelosi has not been among those backing an inquiry.

On Tuesday alone, more than a dozen lawmakers — including close Pelosi ally Rep. Lois Frankel (D-Fla.) — have come out in support of an impeachment inquiry in the aftermath of reports about the phone call with Zelensky.

Earlier Tuesday, Trump acknowledged he had withheld about $400 million in U.S. military aid for Ukraine just days ahead of the July 25 phone call.

Trump said that he raised the issues of Biden, a Democratic presidential candidate, and corruption on the call but denied that he pressured Ukraine to investigate Biden or that there was a quid pro quo involved in the conversation.

On Tuesday afternoon, Trump said he has authorized the release of a transcript of the conversation with Zelensky and insisted it would prove he did nothing wrong.

“You will see it was a very friendly and totally appropriate call. No pressure and, unlike Joe Biden and his son, NO quid pro quo! This is nothing more than a continuation of the Greatest and most Destructive Witch Hunt of all time!” Trump tweeted.

Olivia Beavers contributed.

–Updated at 4:20 p.m.