China should think twice before threatening to attack Americans

China is betraying a level of strategic anxiety not yet seen as the impact of trade tariffs looms and its return to its historical power role in the Asia seems to have stalled.
On Dec. 20, Chinese Rear Adm. Lou Yuan, while speaking at a military trade conference, announced that what the United States feared most was casualties and that the easiest way to defeat China’s main rival was to sink two American supercarriers, killing over 10,000 sailors in the process. When that has happened, Admiral Lou announced, then “we’ll see how frightened America is.”
Lou’s statements were followed just a few days later by China’s president, Xi Jinping, who threateningly said China “reserves the option of taking all necessary measures” to ensure “peaceful reunification” with Taiwan, a democracy that has governed itself apart from China since 1949.  Xi added that Beijing was willing to “fight the bloody battle against our enemies,” and menacingly predicted: “Reunification is the historical trend and the right path, Taiwan independence is ... a dead end.”
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This is a stark escalation of language. Taken with other examples of bellicose rhetoric that have increasingly issued from Beijing officials, it is clear that Xi Jinping and his supporters have been badly rattled by the recent events.
China’s leaders assumed after the 2008 global financial crisis that the Communist, centrally controlled economic state’s time had come. It would regain its historic role in the region. It could cast off the cloak of a peaceful rise to assume a hegemonic role in the Asia-Pacific region.
But Xi and his followers have watched their diplomatic, economic and military initiatives come up short, engendering increased resistance from other Indo-Pacific nations rather than the realignment China had expected. Now the Trump administration’s trade tariffs threaten to destabilize the Chinese economy, resulting in a cascade failure of Xi Jinping’s broader strategy and threatening to undermine the legitimacy of the Communist Party, hence the stronger and more strident attacks.
China’s desperate attempts to regain the momentum, however, betray an ignorance of the American culture.
China perceived the lack of strategic focus of the George W. Bush administration and the passive “lead from behind” foreign policy of the Obama administration as American decay and decline.  In reality, the foundational aspects of the American economy remain surprisingly strong and the American fighting spirit is not dead -- merely sleeping. Those who would believe that the sinking of two aircraft carriers would trigger an impulse toward retreat would do well to make themselves aware of the United States’ history and the impact events such as the sinking of the Lusitania, the attack on Pearl Harbor and the collapse of the World Trade Center had on the national psyche. What some have labeled the Jacksonian impulse could be described as a tendency toward great power rage. To be sure, it burns itself out. After all, the U.S. is considering leaving Afghanistan, 17 years later.
But make no mistake: Any attack upon a single U.S. aircraft carrier by long-range aircraft, cruise missiles or ballistic missiles would surely generate a response against the bases from which those weapons were launched, the sensors associated with them and the command-and-control nodes that directed them, and then the United States would turn its attention on the Chinese naval and merchant fleet.
Before China knew what was happening, it would be cut off from the overseas sources of energy and raw materials that fuel its import/export economy. Within weeks it would be without fuel and its factories would be shuttered. The American economy, established in a nation that has most resources domestically available, would be able to ride out the storm, even if China attempted to climb the escalation ladder and attack targets in North America.
For China, it is better to get its more bellicose voices under control and approach the bargaining table with the United States over trade issues in good faith and with an openness to real compromise on the economic issues that divide our two nations, rather than resorting to nationalist saber rattling.
Xi Jinping should try harder to understand his real strategic position while remembering that he who rides the tiger finds it difficult to dismount. There will be no return to global hegemony or Middle Kingdom status. China brought its candle out from under the basket too soon, and its broader, aggressive ambitions have been revealed.
As for the United States, it should follow the lead of President Trump and his new acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan, who between them have identified that we are in an era of great power competition that will require more effort and that the focus of that competition is China, and China and China.

Trump warns shutdown could last 'years,' says he may declare 'national emergency' to build border wall

President Trump stood firm Friday on his demands for a border wall after the second White House meeting with congressional leaders this week broke up with no apparent deal, warning Democrats the partial government shutdown could last "years" and saying he could even declare a "national emergency" to bypass Congress if necessary.
“We can call a national emergency [to build a border wall] because of the security of our country,” Trump told reporters in the Rose Garden, during a lengthy and impromptu press conference.
“I may do it,” he said, before adding, “If we can do it through a negotiated process, we’re giving it a shot.”
The press conference underscored how far apart both sides are, even as Trump called the meeting "productive" and suggested the standoff could end soon -- or not. He indicated he was not shifting on his demand for more than $5 billion for funding for a wall on the southern border, saying it was necessary as the border is a "dangerous, horrible disaster."
"This is national security we’re talking about, we’re not talking about games," he told reporters. “We're not playing games, we have to do it."
Despite Trump saying conversations had "come a long way," Democrats were more dour in their assessment. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer exited saying Trump told them "he’d keep the government closed for a very long period of time, months or even years.”
Trump later confirmed in the Rose Garden, "Absolutely I said that," while clarifying he hopes the partial shutdown doesn't last more than a few more days. He said it could be opened "very quickly" if they come to an agreement on the wall. He offered some flexibility only on what the wall would be made of, saying it could be concrete or steel.
"Steel is more expensive than the concrete, but I feel like we’re talking about steel because the other side feels better about it," he said.
Yet House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the Democrats' view is that they cannot resolve the funding dispute until the government fully opens. She said there had been progress only in the sense of a "better understanding" of each other.
Looking for an elusive resolution, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Trump agreed to designate staff to engage in negotiations with congressional leadership aides this weekend. Trump later said the group would "determine what we're going to do about the border." That group would include Vice President Pence and advisor Jared Kushner.
The meeting came on the 14th day of the shutdown, which was triggered by disagreements over the funding of Trump’s promised wall, after Democrats formally took control of the House of Representatives. Trump has said that $5 billion in funding for the wall is non-negotiable, while Democrats have said they will fund more general border security -- but not the wall.
Trump met with Democratic and Republican leaders of both chambers. Ahead of the meeting Trump sent a letter to members of Congress congratulating Pelosi on her election as speaker and calling on Congress to re-open the government.
“As we begin this new Congress, our first task should be to reopen the Government and to deliver on our highest duty as elected officials: the security of the Nation and its borders," he said. “It is the sovereign right of every nation to establish an immigration program in its national interest—lawfully admitting those who have followed the rules, while denying entry to those who break the rules or fail to meet the requirements established in law."
As part of his strategy, he made available to every member a presentation on border security that he said those present at a meeting Wednesday did not want to hear.
“Americans have endured decades of broken promises on illegal immigration. Now, is the time for both parties to rise above the partisan discord, to set aside political convenience, and to put the national interest first,” he wrote.
Democrats, meanwhile, passed legislation in the House that would fund the whole government, but not the wall.  Pelosi accused Republicans of holding government workers hostage for the separate demand of a wall.
"The wall and the government shutdown really have nothing to do with each other," Pelosi said at an MSNBC Town Hall.
"There is no reason to have workers pay a price with their paycheck," she said
The legislation was immediately dismissed by Republican leadership. McConnell, R-Ky., called the bills “a time-wasting act of political posturing” and said that “a resolution will have to be palatable to House Democrats and Senate Republicans alike.”
HOUSE DEMS MOVE TO ELIMINATE ELECTORAL COLLEGE, LIMIT PRESIDENTIAL PARDON POWER AND MORE IN FIRST DAYS BACK
“We need to make policy rather than simply making political theatre,” he told reporters.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said on "Fox & Friends" earlier Friday that it would be up to Pelosi to get her party behind her, including the left flank pushing for impeachment.
“We think we're hopeful because the people that elected Nancy Pelosi didn't elect her to come up here and do nothing and didn't elect her to play political games,” she said. “They elected her to find real solutions and actually work with the president and work with all members of Congress to get things done.”
On Thursday night, Pence said on Fox News' “Tucker Carlson Tonight” that the terms of the negotiations were clear: "Bottom line, if there's no wall, there's no deal."

House Democrats Cartoons

Ocasio-Cortez tells reporter ‘gotta run’ when asked about shutdown paycheck

New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is still mum on whether she will follow her own advice to lawmakers to "have some integrity" and give up their salary during the government shutdown.
"I’ve gotta run," the Democratic Socialist told the New York Post on Thursday after being asked about her salary, rushing for a mock swearing-in with newly elected House Speak Nancy Pelosi.
The questions follow Ocasio-Cortez’ comments on social media during the early days of the shutdown, urging members of Congress to give up their salaries during the government shutdown just like federal workers.
"Next time we have a gov shutdown, Congressional salaries should be furloughed as well," she wrote in a tweet in December. "It's completely unacceptable that members of Congress can force a government shutdown on partisan lines & then have Congressional salaries exempt from that decision."
"Have some integrity," she added.
She later reiterated her position, saying “it’s only fair” that members of Congress would lose their paychecks during the shutdown – forcing them to be more responsible.
“Speaking as a working class member-elect, I think it’s only fair. It would also cause members who actually depend on their salary to think twice about leadership and take a shutdown vote more seriously,” she said.
So far it appears that only a couple Democrats followed Ocasio-Cortez calls. Hawaii Sen. Mazie Hirono promised to donate her salary during the shutdown to food banks in her home state – a move she did during the 2013 and 2018 government shutdowns.
“As long as Donald Trump refuses to reopen the government, I will be donating my salary to Hawaii’s food banks—who serve nearly one in eight Hawaii residents in need,” she told Hawaii News Now.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who recently announced her presidential exploratory committee, pledged to donate her salary to a Jewish charity.
“Over 7,000 people in Massachusetts have been sent home or are working without pay during the #TrumpShutdown,” she wrote. “Until @realDonaldTrump re-opens the government, I'm donating my salary to @HIASrefugees, a nonprofit that helps refugees and makes our country stronger in the process.”
Ocasio-Cortez was formally sworn into Congress on Thursday. She begins earning $174,000 a year.

Pence: 'No deal' with Dems without border wall funding, Trump 'evaluating' Afghanistan pullout

In an exclusive interview on Fox News' "Tucker Carlson Tonight," Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday night affirmed that the White House would reject any Democratic spending bill without funding for a border wall.
The vice president added that President Trump "is in the process of evaluating" whether to remove troops from Afghanistan, and vowed that the military's withdrawal from Syria will be conducted in an "orderly fashion."
Pence's comments came as the new House majority, which was sworn in earlier Thursday, debated an interim, stopgap spending bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security through Feb. 8. The bill, which was ultimately approved late Thursday by a 239 to 192 vote, does not include any new wall money, and Senate Republicans and the White House have both described it as a non-starter that will never become law. Five Republicans voted for the bill.
Another piece of legislation approved by the House late Thursday would fund six of the seven unresolved spending bills through Sept. 30. The bill was approved by a  241-190 vote at approximately 10 p.m. ET, with seven Republicans joining Democrats to vote yea. The measure, which the White House has also said will not become law, puts together six of the seven unresolved appropriations bills in one package.
"Democrats broke off negotiations about a week ago, but the president’s made it clear: We’re here to make a deal, but it’s a deal that’s going to result in achieving real gains on border security," Pence said. "And, you have no border security without a wall. We will have no deal without a wall.
"What we’ve completely focused on is keeping the president’s promise, to build a wall, to pass legislation that provides other support for border security, that gives the people that are enforcing our laws at the border, and across the border -- enforcing our immigration laws, the resources and the tools that they need."
The vice president pointed to a compromise floated during a legislative showdown over the summer, which would have provided enhanced statutory protections to so-called "Dreamers," or illegal immigrants who entered the U.S. at a young age. The president had signaled support for the measure.
"There’s a lot of people talking about a lot of different ideas, you know frankly, the better part of a year ago, the president expressed a willingness to deal with the issue of Dreamers in a compassionate way," Pence said. "People who were brought here as children, and through no fault of their own -- he’s discussed that, it’s being talked about."

While U.S. authorities "actually saw a decline in illegal immigration and incursions on our southern border" in the early days of Trump's presidency, Pence said, "in the last 12 months we’ve literally seen a dramatic increase ... 2,000 people a day [are] apprehended at our border or found to be inadmissible, trying to enter our country."
The solution, Pence said, is a "barrier," along with "technology, drones, the kind of support that our border agents know will assist them in doing their job. But bottom line, if there’s no wall, there’s no deal."

"But bottom line: If there’s no wall, there’s no deal."
— Vice President Mike Pence

Separately, Pence suggested that Trump's planned pullout from Syria was appropriate because terrorists there have been defeated -- but, he added, the fight against the Islamic State terror network will continue.
"The reality is we have defeated ISIS, we have defeated the caliphate," Pence said. "And, what the president announced just before Christmas is not that we’re giving up on the fight of ISIS; we’re going to continue to lean into the fight on ISIS."
Speaking to Fox News on Wednesday, Retired Army Col. Douglas MacGregor praised Trump's decision, saying U.S. overseas commitments have been a "disaster" for everyday Americans.
However, several top Republicans, including South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, have said Trump's initially planned 30-day pullout was too hasty. After speaking with Trump this week, Graham said that the president has agreed to slow the drawdown.
Asked whether Trump would similarly pursue an Afghanistan withdrawal, as he has reportedly been debating, Pence said only that the idea was under active consideration.
The potential maneuver would involve more than 3,000 U.S. troops getting pulled out, a senior U.S. official told Fox News in December. There are 15,000 troops currently on the ground in Afghanistan.
"Well, the president is in the process of evaluating that, as we speak," Pence said. "I was in Afghanistan last year. In his speech in August, President Trump, basically through new rules of engagement, new resources, additional military personnel, gave our folks on the ground the ability to take the fight, be at the tip of the spear, supporting the Afghan National Army in the battle against the Taliban, ISIS, Khorasan, Al Qaeda, re-emerging in Afghanistan."

Last-minute challenge from Ocasio-Cortez, progressive House wing fails to derail 'pay-go' rules

Overcoming a defiant last-minute challenge from the party's progressive wing, House Democrats on Thursday approved most of a sweeping new rules package that effectively places restrictions on some new spending, incorporates ethics reforms and dramatically shakes up several key voting procedures and committees.
Although planned portions of the rules relating to the House's handling of ObamaCare were tabled for the future, the 234-197 vote marked a decisive defeat of New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's opposition to the measure.
Three Republicans supported the Democrats' rules, including Pennsylvania Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, and New York Reps. John Katko and Tom Reed.  In addition to Ocasio-Cortez, Hawaii Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard and California Rep. Ro Khanna voted against the rules package.
On Wednesday, Ocasio-Cortez vowed to join Khanna to oppose the so-called "pay-go" rule included in the rules package, supported by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. That rule requires that any new mandatory spending for entitlements or tax cuts be offset by other separate revenue increases (such as tax hikes) or budget-cutting measures so that the new spending does not expand the federal deficit.
The pay-go principle, Ocasio-Cortez charged in a tweet Wednesday, was a "dark political maneuver designed to hamstring progress on healthcare" and other legislation.
"We shouldn’t hinder ourselves from the start," she added. But, Pelosi deputy chief of staff Drew Hammill fired back, tweeting: "A vote AGAINST the Democratic Rules package is a vote to let [Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)] Mick Mulvaney make across the board cuts, unilaterally reversing Democratic initiatives and funding increases."
Pay-go applies to discretionary spending that is approved through the normal appropriations procedure. Last in effect in 2010, pay-go replaces the current so-called "cut-go" provisions, which require only that mandatory spending increases be matched with other cuts to mandatory spending.
Other rule changes eliminate the supermajority requirement to pass federal income tax changes, and potentially avoid future showdowns over raising the debt ceiling by suspending the debt limit “through September 30 of the budget year” once the House adopts a budget. The so-called Gephardt rule had offered the House much less latitude, requiring an agreement between the House and Senate on a budget resolution in order to avoid a debt-ceiling vote.
The rules package also establishes a climate-change committee. The Select Committee on the Climate Crisis lacks some of the same legislative teeth that its predecessor committee wielded when Democrats last controlled the House. But, the House rules give the panel until March 31, 2020 to make recommendations to other committees for actual policy changes and legislation.
And, although hats have been barred in the House chamber for more than a century, a new House rule states that “this prohibition does not include religious headwear.” That means the rules will still preclude Democratic Florida Rep. Frederica Wilson from wearing her signature cowboy hats on the House floor -- but Democratic Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Muslim, will be permitted to wear a hijab.
Additional elements to the rules package include ethics reforms that preclude congressional members and their staff from serving on corporate boards, as well as the revival of a rule that all legislation must be made available at least 72 hours before a vote is held.
Portions of the rules had also provided that the House has the authority to defend ObamaCare, which was recently ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge, in court.
Meanwhile, House Democrats Thursday night debated a combined spending bill to end part of the government shutdown.
The House late Thursday ultimately passed a bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security until Feb.8, by a 239 to 192 vote. But the bill does not include any new wall money, and Senate Republicans and the White House have both described it as a non-starter that will never become law. Five Republicans voted for the bill.
Another piece of legislation proposed and debated by Democrats would fund six of the seven unresolved spending bills through Sept. 30. That bill, which the White House has also said will not become law, was approved by a  241-190 vote at approximately 10 p.m. ET, with seven Republicans joining Democrats to vote yea. The measure puts together six of the seven unresolved appropriations bills in one package.
In a news conference Thursday night, Pelosi broadly discussed the ongoing partial shutdown, which has dragged on since Dec. 22 amid demands from the White House that any federal spending bill include funding for a wall on the southern border.
However, Pelosi, even as she said she would be willing to fund border security, called a border wall a symptom of an "old way of thinking" and promised not to fund it.

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi of California, who is expected to lead the 116th Congress as speaker of the House, is applauded at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 3, 2019. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

"We sense the urgency of opening up the people's government so that they can be served by the agencies of government on which they rely," House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., told reporters. "The president has asked us to come down and meet tomorrow at 10:30. And we will do that. And we will have a discussion." Pelosi then interjected to remind Hoyer that the meeting was actually planned for 11:30 p.m. ET, and joked that Trump perhaps had told her the wrong time intentionally so that she would be absent.
Trump met with Pelosi and other senior Democrats at a contentious meeting on Wednesday in the White House Situation Room, which included Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., interrupting Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen "within five seconds," according to Republicans at the meeting. The sitdown adjourned after a consensus emerged that more progress could be made after the new Congress was seated Thursday.
"The message is very simple: This is the first time in history that a government has been shut down while our new electeds have assumed responsibility," New York Democratic Rep. Nita Lowey, who chairs the House Appropriations Committee, said afterward.
Shortly after Pelosi's historic return to the House speakership, Trump made his first-ever appearance in the White House briefing room to congratulate Pelosi and reaffirm his commitment to the border wall.
Together with officials from the National Border Patrol Council, the union representing border patrol agents and staff, Trump insisted that "we need protection in our country."
"I promise you, if you interview Border Patrol agents, they will tell you that walls work," Brandon Judd, the president of the Border Patrol union, told the media after Trump's introductory remarks. "I worked in Naco, Ariz., for ten years. We didn't have physical barriers in Naco and illegal immigration and drug smuggling was absolutely out of control. We built those walls, those physical barriers, and illegal immigration dropped exponentially. Anywhere that you look, where we have built walls, they have worked ... We need those physical barriers and we appreciate President Trump and all of his efforts in getting us those physical barriers."
Trump himself likely will soon deliver that message in person to congressional Democrats. In a show of normalcy towards the end of a whirlwind day of history and drama on Capitol Hill, Pelosi on Thursday evening formally invited Trump to deliver State of the Union speech in Congress on Jan. 29.

Rashida Tlaib calls Trump an expletive during pitch to impeach

Fresh-faced U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib wasted no time in calling for the impeachment of President Donald Trump just hours after being sworn in.
Speaking to a crowd of supporters Thursday night, the Michigan Democrat and first Muslim women elected to Congress said of Trump: "People love you and you win. And when your son looks at you and says, 'Momma, look you won. Bullies don't win.' And I said, 'Baby, they don't, because we’re gonna go in there and we’re gonna impeach the mother***er.'”
Tlaib’s proclamation came hours after the Detroit Free Press published her op-ed calling for Trump’s impeachment.
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"President Donald Trump is a direct and serious threat to our country. On an almost daily basis, he attacks our Constitution, our democracy, the rule of law and the people who are in this country,” Tlaib wrote. "Each passing day brings more pain for the people most directly hurt by this president, and these are days we simply cannot get back. The time for impeachment proceedings is now."
To remove a sitting president, the constitution requires conviction of “treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.” The impeachment process would further require the consent of both the House and two-thirds of the Senate, which is still a Republican majority.
Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., on Thursday re-introduced articles of impeachment that he had filed last year with Democratic co-sponsor Rep. Al Green of Texas.
Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., had a more measured tone on impeachment, telling a CNN reporter on Thursday, "It's not too soon to be talking about it. We'll have to decide whether or not it's the correct course of action, but certainly, we should be discussing it and asking those questions and figuring out what the best course of action is."
Nancy Pelosi, who was re-elected to Speaker of the House Thursday, said she isn't ruling out impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump, depending on findings by the special counsel investigating Russia's meddling in the 2016 election.
"We shouldn't be impeaching for a political reason, and we shouldn't avoid impeachment for a political reason," she said.

Mitt Romney Cartoons

Ronna McDaniel urges Uncle Mitt Romney to focus on fighting Democrats, not Trump

Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel on Thursday stood by her criticism of her uncle -- incoming Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah -- for his attack on President Trump, urging party unity and saying he should focus his fire on Democrats instead.
“As a party we need to come together if we’re going to be successful because we’re up against unprecedented odds and this juggernaut of negative Democrat and media attention,” she said in an interview with "Fox & Friends."
Romney sparked a mini-family feud with a scathing op-ed Tuesday in The Washington Post, where he said Trump’s conduct “is evidence that the president has not risen to the mantle of the office,"
Romney said Trump should be bringing the country together, and demonstrate "the essential qualities of honesty and integrity, and elevate the national discourse with comity and mutual respect."
This sparked a response from McDaniel, who called Romney’s op-ed “disappointing and unproductive.”
"POTUS is attacked and obstructed by the MSM media and Democrats 24/7. For an incoming Republican freshman senator to attack @realdonaldtrump as their first act feeds into what the Democrats and media want and is disappointing and unproductive," she tweeted.
On Thursday, she dismissed the idea that the two were fighting, saying that Romney had called her on New Year's Day (while she was at the movies, seeing “Aquaman”) to give her a heads-up about the op-ed -- and that she would have treated any other incoming senator the same way.
“I love my uncle and my tweet yesterday had nothing to do with family, I would have done this to any freshman incoming senator and I’d say ‘Hey, let's focus on the real issues here which are the Democrats who are proposing dangerous policies for our country and let’s remind Americans of the good things that are coming out of the administration,'” she said.
Trump also responded to the Post op-ed on Wednesday during a Cabinet meeting: “I wish Mitt could be more of a team player. I am surprised he did it this quickly. If he fought really hard against President Obama like he does against me, he would’ve won the election.”
Romney, for his part, continued to criticize Trump on Wednesday evening, telling CNN: “A leader has an impact, not just on policies but also on the character of the people who get to watch the person and I think in that scenario the president needs to focus more attention and hopefully make some changes there."
Since she has taken Romney to task, McDaniel said her uncle had gotten in touch and made sure she knew it was all water under the bridge.
"He said ‘you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.’ He understands,” she said.

Pelosi parts with DOJ on whether sitting president can be indicted: 'Open discussion'

Speaker-designate Nancy Pelosi said Thursday that a longstanding Justice Department policy protecting sitting presidents from indictment is “not conclusive” and represents an “open discussion,” in a fresh warning to President Trump amid Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe.
In an interview with NBC News’ “Today,” Pelosi was asked repeatedly whether she believed Mueller should “honor and observe” Justice Department guidance that keeps sitting presidents off limits from indictment.
“I do not think that that is conclusive, no I do not,” Pelosi, D-Calif., told NBC’s Savannah Guthrie.
Guthrie asked Pelosi whether it was possible Mueller, in his investigation into Russian meddling and potential collusion with Trump campaign associates during the 2016 presidential election, could recommend indicting Trump.
“Let’s just see what Mueller does. Let’s spend our time on getting results for the American people,” Pelosi said, as she prepares to lead the Democrats upon reclaiming the House majority Thursday afternoon.
Trump’s attorney, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, said in May that Mueller has assured the president’s legal team that he will follow the Justice Department guidance protecting a sitting president from indictment.
The policy was instated nearly two decades ago when the Clinton administration reviewed 1973 guidance that “the indictment and criminal prosecution of a sitting President would unduly interfere” with executive branch duties.
The House of Representatives, as it did during the Clinton administration, can bring misconduct charges against a president through the process of impeachment.
But then-Assistant Attorney General Randolph D. Moss, with the Office of Legal Counsel, determined in his October 2000 memo: “Our view remains that a sitting President is constitutionally immune from an indictment and criminal prosecution.”
An October 2000 memo stated that “the indictment or criminal prosecution of a sitting President would unconstitutionally undermine the capacity of the executive branch to perform its constitutionally assigned functions.”
But Pelosi was pressed repeatedly by Guthrie over whether she believed Mueller would deviate from Justice Department policy. She left the door open to what might happen with a sitting president, while making clear that a president does not enjoy such protections after leaving office.
“That is not the law. Everything indicates a president can be indicted after he is no longer president of the United States,” Pelosi explained.
Asked again whether a president currently in office could be indicted, Pelosi repeated: “Well, a sitting president, when he is no longer president of the United States.”
Once more, Pelosi was asked about a sitting president’s protection, to which she replied: “I think that that is an open discussion. I think that is an open discussion in terms of the law.”
As for impeachment, Pelosi likewise left the door open.
“We have to wait and see what happens with the Mueller report,” Pelosi said. “We shouldn’t be impeaching for a political reason, and we shouldn’t avoid impeachment for a political reason. We have to see.”