Marc Scaringi: Pelosi's Failed Gamble
Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi walks back to her office after leaving the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 10, 2020, in Washington, D.C. (Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images)
By Marc A. Scaringi
Published January 13, 2020 at 3:18pm
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has finally decided to send her much-beloved and overindulged articles of impeachment from their comfy nook in the cozy confines of her House of Representatives to the harsh, cold reality of the U.S. Senate. There, like a baby lamb being led to its slaughter, the articles will meet a quick death.
Though we’ve always known how the story will end, Pelosi still managed to inject some drama into it with her childish and feckless attempt to hold on to the ball until she got what she wanted.
In a break with precedent, Pelosi stunned the nation by refusing to immediately transmit the articles to the Senate after they were approved in the House. Her purported reason? She wanted to know what rules the Senate would adopt so that she could decide which House managers to appoint before transmitting the articles to the Senate.
The real reason is she thought she could pressure Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell into agreeing to call certain witnesses, including acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney and former National Security Advisor John Bolton, and produce certain documents Democrats thought would bolster their case.
But Pelosi’s pressure campaign was doomed to fail. Oddly, she thought she could get something from McConnell by withholding from him something he didn’t want. Where did Pelosi learn how to negotiate? She obviously hasn’t read The Art of the Deal.
McConnell called her bluff.