Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-California) has rejected claims from those opposed to former President Donald Trump’s impeachment that pushing forward with a Senate trial would run counter to President Joe Biden’s calls for “unity.” A number of Republicans, including some in the Senate where the impeachment trial is set to take place, have decried the attempt to impeach Trump after he has already left office. “If the Senate conducts an impeachment trial, among my considerations will be what is best to help heal our country rather than deepen our divisions,” Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) said. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), the second-ranking Republican in the Senate, also spoke out against impeachment. “If they proceed with the impeachment trial, I think that will further divide the country,” Cornyn has said. Pelosi on Thursday responded to those arguments. “The president of the United States committed an act of incitement of insurrection,” Pelosi said, referring to the January 6 breach of the U.S. Capitol building. “I don’t think it’s very unifying to say, ‘oh, let’s just forget it and move on.’” She also noted that doing nothing would encourage future presidents to commit impeachable offenses, as it would set a precedent of having no consequences for their actions during their final days in office. “Just because he’s now gone — thank God — you don’t say to a president, ‘Do whatever you want in the last months of your administration, you’re going to get a get-out-of-jail card free because people think we should make nice-nice,’” Pelosi added.
via truthout: Pelosi Responds to Claims that Trump Impeachment Goes Against Calls for “Unity”