In case you missed it: President Donald Trump sent a six page letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, urging her to “immediately cease this impeachment fantasy.”
Pelosi did not heed the warning, and told reporters on Capitol Hill that she hasn’t read the entire letter yet, but what she did read was “ridiculous” and “really sick.”
“I’ve seen the essence of it, though, and it’s really sick,” Pelosi said.
Pelosi says Trump's letter is "really sick." pic.twitter.com/8HtOUPVVny
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) December 17, 2019
The Democratic-controlled House is prepared to vote on Wednesday on two articles of impeachment charging Trump with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. Nearly every Democratic lawmaker is expected to vote in favor of the impeachment articles, which are based on an inquiry largely focused on allegations that Trump urged the Ukrainian president to open politically beneficial investigations.
The expansive letter attempts to turn the tables on Democrats, accusing the party's lawmakers of engaging in the type of conduct they have alleged of Trump. Echoing language he's used before, Trump called Democrats' efforts "nothing more than an illegal, partisan attempted coup."
"You are not just after me, as President, you are after the entire Republican Party," the president wrote, “You are the ones interfering in America’s election. You are the ones subverting America’s Democracy. You are the ones Obstructing Justice.”
He added, “You are the ones bringing pain and suffering to our Republic for your own selfish personal, political, and partisan gain.”
The letter represented Trump's first official correspondence with Pelosi amid the House impeachment inquiry.
Just hours later, Pelosi told her Democratic colleagues that they would be "derelict" in their congressional duty if they did not vote to impeach the president. In a "Dear Colleague" letter, Pelosi said that House's impeachment inquiry "made clear that the president abused his power for his own personal, political benefit and that he obstructed Congress as he demanded that he is above accountability, above the Constitution and above the American people."
The entire impeachment inquiry is based on conspiracy theories and “whistleblowers” who allegedly heard the president colluding with other countries. It’s all a bunch of malarkey.