"No, I'm not trying to run out the clock," Pelosi said at her final weekly press conference before departing Washington for the House's six-week summer recess.
ADVERTISEMENTWASHINGTON — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Friday that a decision on whether the House pursues the impeachment of President Donald Trump will be made in a "timely fashion" and denied the idea that she is trying to "run out the clock" on the issue.
"No, I'm not trying to run out the clock," Pelosi said at her final weekly press conference before she departs Washington for the House's six-week summer recess.
Asked how long the Democrats' court fight might take, Pelosi would not lay out a timeline. "We will proceed when we have what we need to proceed — not one day sooner," she said.
"Everybody has the liberty and the luxury to espouse their own position and to criticize me for trying to go down the path in the most determined, positive way," she said. "Again, their advocacy for impeachment only gives me leverage."
Pelosi said that former special counsel Robert Mueller "confirmed" in his public testimony before two House committees on Wednesday "that the president has obstructed justice," she said. Democrats are pursuing information through the courts in order to investigate the president's finances, she added, which had not been part of the scope of the Mueller probe.
"A decision will be made in a timely fashion," she said, appearing to refer to the impeachment process. "This isn't endless, and when we have the best, strongest possible case and that's not endless either."
According to an NBC News count, 94 Democrats and one independent support opening an impeachment inquiry of the president. This group includes 14 of the 24 Democrats on the Judiciary Committee, which has the power to initiate an inquiry.