Nancy Pelosi said in an interview aired Sunday morning that Donald Trump’s alleged crimes are worse than former President Richard Nixon, who was impeached and resigned in 1974.
‘It’s really a sad thing,’ the House Speaker said in her Friday interview with CBS’s Face the Nation host Margaret Brennan. ‘I mean, what the president did was so much worse than even what Richard Nixon did. And at some point, Richard Nixon cared about the country enough to recognize that this could not continue.’
Articles of impeachment were filed against Nixon for obstruction of justice, abuse of power and contempt of Congress, but he resigned before a vote was cast on whether to formally remove him from office.
The House began its public hearings as part of the impeachment inquiry into Trump last week and will hear from eight more witnesses this week.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi claimed in an interview released Sunday that Donald Trump’s actions are worse than impeached former President Richard Nixon
Nixon was impeached for obstruction of justice, abuse of power and contempt of Congress and in 1974 stepped down as president. The impeachment inquiry into Trump stems from a call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky where he requested his Ukrainian counterpart investigate Joe Biden
The inquiry stems from a whistle-blower complaint that revealed the nature of the president’s call with his Ukrainian counterpart was centered around requesting President Volodymyr Zelensky launch a probe into political rival Joe Biden.
The request came just days after the Whtie House froze millions in military aid to Ukraine, causing Democrats to claim the president was setting a quid pro quo of assistance being dependent on the investigation.
Trump denies any wrongdoing and maintains that the inquiry into his actions are a partisan ‘witch hunt’ – claiming his call with the Ukrainian president was ‘perfect.’
Former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch publicly testified before the House Intelligence Committee on Friday after the White House prematurely called her back in May from her three-year assignment in Ukraine.
‘Everywhere Marie Yovanovitch went turned bad,’ Trump tweeted during Yovanovitch’s hearing. ‘She started off in Somalia, how did that go? Then fast forward to Ukraine, where the new Ukrainian President spoke unfavorably about her in my second phone call with him.’
‘It is a U.S. President’s absolute right to appoint ambassadors,’ he continued. ‘They call it ‘serving at the pleasure of the President.’ The U.S. now has a very strong and powerful foreign policy, much different than proceeding administrations. It is called, quite simply, America First! With all of that, however, I have done FAR more for Ukraine than O.’
Yovanovitch started off her testimony by detailing some of the ‘hardship posts’ she had endured as a career diplomat – like Somalia – and became emotional when talking about the July 25 call between Trump and Zelensky that the president was referring to in his tweet.
The White House prematurely recalled in May former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch (pictured) from her her three-year assignment in Ukraine. She publicly testified as part of the impeachment inquiry before the House Intelligence Committee on Friday
Trump tweeted during the hearing that ‘everywhere Marie Yovanovitch went turned bad’ and insisted it was his prerogative as president to appoint ambassadors
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff voiced concerns that the president tweeting at Yovanovitch during her hearing could be ‘witness intimidation’
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff voiced concerns that Trump’s tweet was ‘witness intimidation in real time.’
Pelosi, when asked, however, would not say whether she believed it was witness intimidation or not.
She claimed she had not looked enough into the language of the tweets to determine the potential legal implications, but she did say that tweeting at Yovanovitch was a ‘mistake.’
‘He made a mistake. And he knows her strength and he was trying to undermine it,’ Pelosi told CBS in her interview. ‘I think even his most ardent supporters have to honestly admit this was the wrong thing for the president to do.’
‘He should not frivolously throw out insults. But he does,’ she continued. ‘I think part of it is his own insecurity as an imposter. I think he knows full well that he’s in that office way over his head. And so he has diminish everyone else.’
Before Yovanovitch testified, Pelosi tweeted that she had been ‘smeared’ by the president’s allies and unjustly removed from her post in Ukraine.
‘Today, we hear from one of our most respected diplomats, who spent her career as an anti-corruption crusader,’ Pelosi tweeted Friday. ‘She was viciously smeared by Trump’s allies, removed from her post, then threatened by the President on his ‘perfect’ call.’
Brennan attempted to ask Pelosi about her reaction to Republican talking points regarding the impeachment inquiry, but the California Democrats refused to entertain any questions related to the GOP.
Pelosi, in CBS in her interview, which was tapped Friday, would not say if she agreed with Schiff on whether the comment was witness intimidation, but did say it was a ‘mistake.’ She also reused to answer any questions related to GOP talking points regarding the impeachment inquiry
‘You know what, if we could just talk about what we want to do. I really have a real discomfort level of responding to what Republicans say because they are in denial about what is happening in the country,’ Pelosi told the CBS Sunday morning host. ‘So if you want to ask me about where we are going on this, I’m happy to respond to that. But, I find it a waste of my time and yours to just be talking about what Republican say.’
When Brennan said she only wanted to give Pelosi a chance to respond to their argument, the House Speaker cut her off.
‘I’m not going to respond,’ Pelosi asserted. ‘Let it stand. Let their arguments stand, because it’s on such quicksand that I don’t even want to have it given any more visibility by my dignifying any of their misrepresentations of what they say.
‘I’m not here to talk about what they say because they’re not facing the reality of what is happening to our country,’ she concluded.
Pelosi added that she felt the last week was a win for the American people and a lose for Trump.
‘I think the American people have had a good week. I think truth has had good week. I think patriotism has had a good week. And I think the Constitution has had a good week,’ Pelosi, who announced the launch to an impeachment inquiry in September, said. ‘I don’t think the president has had a good week.’
Wednesday kicked off the public hearings after a handful of closed-door testimonies were taken in the weeks preceding.
Former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bill Taylor and Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs George Kent spent nearly 5 hours testifying on Wednesday and Yovanovitch followed that up with her appearance on Capitol Hill on Friday.