Nancy Pelosi: Democrats Launched 'Inquiry,' Not 'Outright Impeachment'

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) attempted to draw the distinction during a press conference Wednesday that Democrats have launched an “impeachment inquiry,” not an “outright impeachment” of President Donald Trump.

Pelosi stated during the press conference with House Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) that Democrats have begun an “impeachment inquiry” into the president over his call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

“This is an inquiry and not an outright impeachment. And we have to give the president his chance to exonerate himself, but he thinks what he did was perfect,” she stated.

During the call, Trump asked Zelensky about former Vice President Joe Biden’s lobbying to fire a prosecutor in Ukraine who was investigating his son, Hunter Biden, and his relationship with the oil company Burisma.

Schiff contended that Trump was goading Zelensky to “intervene” in the U.S. election to benefit himself. He added that Trump tried to “force a foreign leader” to get “dirt” on a political opponent.

Pelosi tapped Schiff, as the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, to lead the impeachment inquiry into Trump’s call with Zelensky.

Schiff said during the press conference that they have a serious investigation into the president and do not want the impeachment inquiry to drag on forever.

“We’re not fooling around here, though,” Rep. Schiff said. “We don’t want this to drag on months and months and months, which appears to be the administration’s strategy.”

House Speaker Pelosi also claimed that, despite their impeachment inquiry, they could work with President Trump on issues such as fixing drug pricing and passing the United States-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) trade agreement.

President Trump said Democrats continue to waste the country’s time rather than improving the lives of everyday Americans.

Trump tweeted, “The Do Nothing Democrats should be focused on building up our Country, not wasting everyone’s time and energy on BULLSHIT, which is what they have been doing ever since I got overwhelmingly elected in 2016, 223-306. Get a better candidate this time, you’ll need it!”