Trump criticizes ‘unfair’ impeachment trial delay, says it will hurt Democrats

President Trump on Monday complained about the process that led to his impeachment and lashed out at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) over her decision to delay sending articles of impeachment to the Senate.

Trump inaccurately described the House impeachment inquiry as a “trial,” railing against the process in the lower chamber as “unfair” and claiming that Pelosi is now “breaking all rules.” 

“Pelosi gives us the most unfair trial in the history of the U.S. Congress, and now she is crying for fairness in the Senate, and breaking all rules while doing so,” Trump, who is on vacation in Palm Beach, Fla., tweeted Monday morning. “She lost Congress once, she will do it again!” 

The Democratic-controlled House voted almost strictly along party lines last Wednesday to impeach Trump for abuse of power in his dealings with Ukraine and for obstructing the congressional inquiry. 

Pelosi has since indicated she will withhold the articles of impeachment until rules governing the trial are established by the GOP-controlled Senate, which is largely expected to acquit Trump. Her decision came after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who has been meeting with the White House counsel to discuss an impeachment trial, said he was “not impartial about this at all.”

There are no rules that prohibit Pelosi from delaying the transmission of the articles of impeachment. 

Pelosi defended her decision on Twitter later Monday and accused Trump of relying on “phony complaints” to evade subpoenas issued by Congress to the executive branch.

“The House cannot choose our impeachment managers until we know what sort of trial the Senate will conduct,” Pelosi tweeted.

“President Trump blocked his own witnesses and documents from the House, and from the American people, on phony complaints about the House process,” she added. “What is his excuse now?”

The delay left the timeline and contours of the trial up in the air as lawmakers headed home for the December recess.

Trump and his White House aides have consistently argued that the House inquiry lacked due process afforded past presidents and accused House Democrats of a partisan effort to overturn the results of the last presidential election. The White House refused to cooperate or participate in the inquiry entirely.

Trump has previously suggested House Democrats would be negatively impacted by their decision to pursue impeachment.

“I have no doubt the American people will hold you and the Democrats fully responsible in the upcoming 2020 election. They will not soon forgive your perversion of justice and abuse of power,” the president wrote in a scathing letter to Pelosi last week on the eve of the House impeachment vote.

Polls have showed that the American public remains deeply divided on the question of whether Trump should be impeached and removed from office.

Trump has been less active on Twitter than usual since arriving for a two-week stint at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach. He lashed out at Pelosi over impeachment during a speech to young conservatives Saturday evening, similarly calling the trial delay “unfair” and accusing House Democrats of “violating the Constitution” with the impeachment inquiry. 

Updated at 10:07 a.m.