After calling on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to send over articles of impeachment to the Senate and allow the chamber to begin its trial, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) is seeking to clarify her comments.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Feinstein said her comments were “misunderstood” and that the decision to send over the articles of impeachment is up to Pelosi.
Feinstein on Pelosi’s impeachment schedule: “my comments on this have been misunderstood”
— Burgess Everett (@burgessev) January 9, 2020
“She’s going to send them and it’s her decision”
Feinstein released a statement later Thursday, saying that she doesn’t believe Pelosi is motivated by politics but rather a desire to make sure the Senate trial is a “fair process.”
“Given the importance of this additional evidence, it’s understandable that Speaker Pelosi has delayed transmitting articles of impeachment until the contours of a Senate trial are known. I do not believe that Speaker Pelosi is motivated by politics but by a sincere desire to ensure a fair process that allows the Senate to consider available evidence — a goal that all of us should share.”
Feinstein’s clarification comes just hours after Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wa.) appeared to join calls for Pelosi to transmit the articles soon.
But in a post on Twitter, he said that he misspoke during his comments earlier in the day, adding that he thinks the House should try to “force the Senate to have to have a fair trial,” as IJR has previously reported.
On Wednesday, Feinstein appeared to call on Pelosi to send the articles to the Senate so that the chamber can begin its trial, saying, “If we’re going to do it, she should send them over. I don’t see what good delay does.”
Republicans seized on Feinstein’s comments on Wednesday to argue that Democrats are growing tired of the delay.
Despite the apparent growing dissent among members of her party, Pelosi maintained that she would not hand over the articles of impeachment just yet.
She has given no clear timeline of when she plans to transmit the articles. However, during her weekly press conference on Thursday, Pelosi said that she would send them “soon.”
While some Democrats appear to be growing tired of the delay, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y) praised Pelosi for the move, noting that several documents — which Democrats claim to be incriminating — have been released since the House voted to impeach the president on December 18.