Lauren Egan
18d ago / 10:39 PM UTC'Cowardly group of Republicans': Pelosi on senators who voted to acquit Trump
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., criticized Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., for his speech condemning former President Donald Trump after voting to acquit him.
"He was hedging all over the place," Pelosi said. "It was a very disingenuous speech and I say that regretfully because I always want to be able to work with the leadership of the other party."
Pelosi criticized McConnell for delaying the Senate trial until after Inauguration Day, and then using Trump's status as a former president to argue that the Senate no longer had jurisdiction.
Pelosi: ‘Cowardly group of Republicans’ allowed Trump’s acquittal
Feb. 13, 202104:52"What is so important about the political survival than any one of us that is more important than our constitution that we take an oath to protect?" Pelosi continued, calling the senators who voted to acquit a "cowardly group of Republicans."
Still, House manager Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., celebrated the vote as the "most bipartisan" in history and took McConnell's floor speech as a sign of concession that the managers had proven their case.
"It is what it is. Mitch McConnell clearly feels that Donald Trump remains a huge problem for the Republican Party," he said.
Raskin touched on the episode earlier this morning when the House mangers made a last-minute push to include witnesses, delaying the trial for a few hours.
He said their intention was to get a statement from Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Wash., entered as evidence. Once that was agreed on, they saw no reason to pursue additional witnesses due to the fact that Republicans were not hinging their decision on the evidence presented but rather on an argument that the Senate lacks jurisdiction.
"All of them are hinging it on a legal argument that could never have been overcome by any number of witnesses," Raskin said.