News

Lock Him Up: Pelosi (Reportedly) Wants Trump in Prison

The House Speaker still thinks impeachment isn't the way to go
Lock Him Up: Pelosi (Reportedly) Wants Trump in Prison

Want the best from VICE News in your inbox? Sign up here.

Lock him up?

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reportedly believes President Trump belongs in prison.

Multiple sources told Politico that Pelosi, the nation’s top Democrat, clashed with Rep. Jerry Nadler, a New York Democrat and chair of the House Judiciary Committee, in a Tuesday meeting over whether to launch an impeachment inquiry into Trump over special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.

Advertisement

“I don’t want to see him impeached; I want to see him in prison,” Pelosi said, according to Politico’s sources.

While Nadler apparently wanted to start an impeachment inquiry — which would begin with the committee he chairs — Pelosi would rather focus the party’s energy on defeating Trump in 2020 and then prosecuting him for his possible crimes after the fact. Top Democrats are concerned that a lack of public and bipartisan support for impeachment proceedings, no matter their legitimacy, would be a detriment to the party.

It’s a stark illustration of the impeachment divide within the Democratic caucus. While party leaders like Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer seem averse to the concept, the House’s famous progressive freshman class, such as Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, and Rashida Tlaib, are vocal supporters of beginning impeachment proceedings against the president.

On top of that, numerous 2020 presidential candidates in Congress — including Sens. Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris, Kirsten Gillibrand, Cory Booker, and Elizabeth Warren — have also voiced their support of impeaching Trump. While they may not agree on impeachment proceedings, Warren and Pelosi at least agree that Trump should be behind bars.

"If he were any other person in the United States, based on what is documented in that report, he would be carried out in handcuffs,” Warren said at a Tuesday MSNBC town hall event in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Cover: In this June 5, 2019, photo, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., speaks to reporters at the Capitol in Washington. The political clock is a significant factor in whether majority House Democrats launch any impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump. There’s increasing pressure on Pelosi to at least start an impeachment inquiry into whether Trump obstructed special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)