Nancy Pelosi on Impeachment: ‘The Devastating Testimony Corroborated Evidence of Bribery’
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has said that Wednesday’s evidence in the public impeachment hearings corroborated the evidence that President Donald Trump sought a bribe from the Ukrainian government. This bribe would have been in the form of dirt on former Vice President Joe Biden.
“The devastating testimony corroborated evidence of bribery uncovered in the inquiry and that the President abused power and violated his oath,” Pelosi told the press.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi responds to the first public hearing in the impeachment inquiry: "The devastating testimony corroborated evidence of bribery uncovered in the inquiry and that the president abused power and violated his oath." https://t.co/0430S1leY1 pic.twitter.com/Ldq9yg38Ck
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) November 14, 2019
Career state department official George Kent and Ambassador Bill Taylor testified yesterday that President Trump was seeking a quid pro quo from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in exchange for desperately needed military aid. Their testimony is just the first in what looks to be many witnesses who will make the same case.
As some were quick to point out, Pelosi’s statement is an escalation of the language Democrats are using to describe Trump’s actions. It is also notable because bribery is specifically mentioned in the Constitution as an impeachable offense.
Watch this word Pelosi just used: "The devastating testimony corroborated evidence of bribery"
Bribery is one of the offenses explicitly named in the Constitution as impeachable.
— Nicholas Fandos (@npfandos) November 14, 2019
“The bribe is to grant or withhold military assistance, in return for a public statement of a fake investigation, into the elections. That’s bribery,” Pelosi further explained. She claimed that Trump had clearly sought assistance in the 2020 presidential election.
Pelosi doesn’t call it impeachment. She calls it the “investigation front.”
Pelosi mentions allegations of “bribery” when speaking about impeachment:
The President abused power by threatening to withhold aid— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) November 14, 2019
Pelosi’s language is clearly being seen as an escalation, even by outlets generally sympathetic to the President. Others have used ‘extortion’ before now but it appears a new narrative on bribery is bound to emerge.
Watch the video above, via Twitter.
