House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) said Friday she had "always been reluctant" about calls to impeach President Donald Trump while standing next to Rep. Maxine Waters (D., Calif.), who has frequently said Trump should be impeached.
"We need to follow the facts, and what did the rest of the family know and when did they know it?" Pelosi said. "I've always been reluctant, because I think impeachment is something that really has an impact on the country. So when the facts are clear—the law is certainly clear—when the facts are clear, then this Congress will make a decision in that regard."
Waters, standing behind her, has become a progressive darling thanks to her constant calls for Trump to be impeached and quips about the "Kremlin clan."
During a press briefing about the ongoing Russia investigation and the latest on Donald Trump Jr.'s meeting with a Russian lawyer last summer, Pelosi was asked if the new evidence in the story made her likelier to support impeachment.
"I think the facts will be self-evident," she said. "Maybe they will be exculpatory of the president. Maybe they will not. But there is evidence, clear evidence that we need to know more, and we should not close that path."
Pelosi called Thursday for an outside commission to investigate the "cold, hard evidence" that the Trump campaign intended to collude with the Kremlin, based on Trump Jr.'s meeting with the lawyer and his understanding that he would receive useful information about Hillary Clinton.
On Friday, NBC reported a fifth person who once served as a Soviet counter intelligence officer was also at the meeting.
Pelosi read off a list of charges that she said may have been committed by Trump Jr. and other members of the campaign. These included "conspiracy with respect to espionage."
Democratic Reps. Brad Sherman (D., Calif.) and Al Green (D., Texas) introduced an article of impeachment against Trump for obstruction of justice on Wednesday. With Republicans in control of the House, however, the measure is unlikely to gain any traction.
"We need to follow the facts, and what did the rest of the family know and when did they know it?" Pelosi said. "I've always been reluctant, because I think impeachment is something that really has an impact on the country. So when the facts are clear—the law is certainly clear—when the facts are clear, then this Congress will make a decision in that regard."
Waters, standing behind her, has become a progressive darling thanks to her constant calls for Trump to be impeached and quips about the "Kremlin clan."
During a press briefing about the ongoing Russia investigation and the latest on Donald Trump Jr.'s meeting with a Russian lawyer last summer, Pelosi was asked if the new evidence in the story made her likelier to support impeachment.
"I think the facts will be self-evident," she said. "Maybe they will be exculpatory of the president. Maybe they will not. But there is evidence, clear evidence that we need to know more, and we should not close that path."
Pelosi called Thursday for an outside commission to investigate the "cold, hard evidence" that the Trump campaign intended to collude with the Kremlin, based on Trump Jr.'s meeting with the lawyer and his understanding that he would receive useful information about Hillary Clinton.
On Friday, NBC reported a fifth person who once served as a Soviet counter intelligence officer was also at the meeting.
Pelosi read off a list of charges that she said may have been committed by Trump Jr. and other members of the campaign. These included "conspiracy with respect to espionage."
Democratic Reps. Brad Sherman (D., Calif.) and Al Green (D., Texas) introduced an article of impeachment against Trump for obstruction of justice on Wednesday. With Republicans in control of the House, however, the measure is unlikely to gain any traction.
