Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Wednesday she’s “optimistic” that lawmakers can strike a bipartisan infrastructure deal, but acknowledged the long odds if President Trump keeps lashing out over investigations into his administration.
Pelosi noted that Trump has said he wants to work on infrastructure in most of their past conversations in person or on the phone, leading her to “still feel optimistic” that it remains an issue the president is interested in pursuing.
But Pelosi acknowledged while speaking during an event hosted by the Commonwealth Club of California that Trump’s desire for an infrastructure deal might not be enough to overcome the impasse regarding Democratic probes.
{mosads}”Does he want to do it enough to not be in a huff over my saying that he’s involved in a cover-up? Well, we’ll see. But this is not for the faint of heart. I mean, you either want do it or you don’t want to do it. And you shouldn’t be offended by somebody speaking the truth about your actions,” Pelosi said.
Last week, Trump abruptly left a meeting with Democratic leaders on an infrastructure plan after Pelosi accused him of engaging in a “cover-up.” Trump then appeared before the media in the White House Rose Garden to demand that Democrats “get these phony investigations over with” before talks resume.
Pelosi’s comments Wednesday came hours after special counsel Robert Mueller delivered his first public statement on his nearly two-year investigation into Russia’s election interference and Trump’s attempts to undermine the probe.
Mueller reiterated the findings of his investigation that while his report “does not conclude that the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.”
“After that investigation, if we had had confidence that the president clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said so,” Mueller said of the question of whether Trump obstructed justice.
At least 40 House Democrats have now endorsed launching an impeachment inquiry against Trump, including multiple lawmakers who announced their support after Mueller’s press briefing on Wednesday morning.
Pelosi downplayed the number of House Democrats who support impeachment out of the full 235-member caucus.
“Many constituents want to impeach the president. But we want to do what is right and what gets results,” Pelosi said as she defended the current strategy of continuing with investigations.
Pelosi pointed to two court rulings in favor of Democrats’ document requests last week, as well as House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff’s (D-Calif.) agreement with the Justice Department for counterintelligence documents from Mueller’s investigation.
“Nothing is off the table. But we do want to make such a compelling case, such an ironclad case, that even the Republican Senate, which at the time seems to be not an objective jury, will be convinced of the path that we have to take as a country,” Pelosi said.