Is Pelosi lowering expectations?
Is Representative Pelosi preparing Democrats for the reality that it's easier to impeach a president in fundraising letters than in the real world? After all, it'd take a congressional majority to bring it to a vote in the House. I'm not even talking about the 67 votes required to convict the president in the Senate. Therefore, it's not surprising that key Democrats are calling for calm, specially knowing that Mr. Trump could be seen a victim of their hysteria.
This is extremely interesting:
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Thursday that some House Democrats need to "curb their enthusiasm" over the possibility that President Trump could be impeached.
"I hope some would curb their enthusiasm until we have all of the facts and have confidence that when the American people understand what is there, whether it's grounds for impeachment or grounds for disappointment, then they'll know," Pelosi told reporters.
Grounds for disappointment? I think so.
Mrs. Pelosi is not alone. There are other Democrats lowering the volume, too:
When House Democratic leaders hastily called a news conference Wednesday to demonstrate their outrage at President Trump's latest dramatics, they took great pains to show they were not seeking to railroad him out of the White House.
"No one ought to, in my view, rush to embrace the most extraordinary remedy that involves the removal of the president from office," said Representative Adam B. Schiff of California, the sober-minded senior Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee.
He warned that Democrats should not let their actions "be perceived as an effort to nullify the election by other means."
Nullify the election? It's nice to see that some Democrats are finally recognizing that Mr. Trump won the election.
My guess is that Mr. Mueller will conclude sooner rather than later that there was no collusion between the Russians and Trump campaign. Frankly, I've viewed this whole story as a combination of political irresponsibility and journalistic malpractice.
Nevertheless, Mr. Mueller may take this investigation in two very unpleasant directions for Democrats. First, who unmasked U.S. citizens? Second, who leaked?
The investigation may also take us to more Comey memos, such as any notes that he took about the Clinton email scandal or the meeting between Attorney General Lynch and President Clinton.
Let's remember that the Clinton independent counsel started in Whitewater and ended up with perjury charges over a relationship with Monica Lewinsky.
I think Representative Pelosi knows that Mr. Mueller is more likely to potentially embarrass Democrats than President Trump. My sense is that she is alerting her side to calm down or face massive disappointment.
P.S. You can listen to my show (Canto Talk), (YouTube) and follow me on Twitter.