Unborn, we have got to guard this moment. This is our watch. And again, i am so, so very proud of the judiciary committee. Im so very, very proud of the Intelligence Committee because they went in and tried to pull out the facts so that they could paint the picture so that america could see it. Hopefully they will not be ladies like the lady at amashs town hall meeting who says they didnt know that there was something wrong that trump did with regard in this Mueller Report. The speaker was absolutely right. She told us a little earlier that she wants to gather all the information and make sure that we have everything we need to paint that picture. Now, what the American People do with it, thats another thing. But we will not stand by and fail to give them let them
see the total picture. I, too, thank mr. Mueller for coming forward for this service to our country. Last but not least, it is so interesting that when mueller would make a decision that they liked, they said, oh, we love you, youre the greatest thing since ice cream. But then as soon as he says something they didnt like, oh, youre a bum. Come on now. We have to see through that. Thank you. Thank you very much. As we acknowledge the greatness of our chairman jerry nadler and adam schiff, i also want to acknowledge the greatness of elijah cummings, the chair of the government and oversight committee. He has really won the first case, the decision which his case we took to court. We won the case. His case was a beautiful statement on congress having oversight. Just a remarkable decision, and now, of course, the administration is appealing it. But i thank you, too, mr. Cummings, for your great leadership and where were going next. Because, as you know, the Mueller Investigation could not do the president s personal or business connections. And one of those connections could be to the russians, and thats what we want to find out. So as we go to questions, i just want to say that i think i do believe that what we saw today was a very strong manifestation, in fact, some would seen say indictment, of this administrations Cone Of Silence in their coverup. This is about the oath we take to protect and defend the constitution. But some of the actions that the
administration may have taken will see through our investigation. They have jeopardized our National Security by strengthening russias hand and interfering in our elections, undermining democracy, not only in our country but in other countries as well. Upsetting our Pre Emineneminenc democracy in the world. Today was very important. I again salute all six chairmen who have been involved in this. Now we can take some questions. Who do you want to hear from first . You guys can decide. How about a new person . Shes having a baby. We have to go there first. As a mother of five, i yield. Reporter thank you. Madam speaker, what you saw today, did it change whether or not you think the House Of Representatives should launch Impeachment Proceedings . My position has always been whatever decision we made in that regard would have to be done with our strongest possible hand, and we still have some outstanding matters in the courts. Its about the congress, the constitution and the courts. And we are fighting the president in the courts. Madam speaker excuse me . Halt. Several members told us over the course of today that they were expecting imminent action of some kind. I dont know why they thought that. They came to me and i said, i dont know why. Again, the lawsuits, we have a number of lawsuits. Do you want to speak to that, jerry . Well, the very next step, im not going to talk long, the very next step either tomorrow or friday is were going into court to ask for the grand jury material and to enforce the subpoena against mr. Mcgahn. And thats particularly
important because the excuses i wont call them reasons the excuses the white house gives for mcgahn not testifying are the same excuses for all the other fact witnesses, and if we break that, we break the law. Madam speaker, where do you stand right now . What do you need to know on impeachment to say, okay, we dont know enough yet did i just not say were waiting to hear from the courts so we have our subpoenas in the court, and the subpoenas are for information. And when we get that information, we can make a judgment. So you need a telltale sign we have several considerations. Its about what information is there. And this isnt endless. This isnt endless. Understand that. But we have live cases in the courts, we have some that are Going Forward that mr. Chairman nadler just mentioned. Just an endless but with strength in our hand to get that information. Remember that watergate was when they got the information and the tapes that broke the case. That wasnt just about changing Public Opinion. That helped change Public Opinion. But its not about me, its about our caucus, its about our country. As they say, there is a Cone Of Silence in the white house that is engaged in a massive coverup in the Obstruction Of Justice. Those obstruction of Justice Charges has been demonstrated today in the hearings could be indictable offenses by anybody else, not the president of the United States, and the president when hes no longer president. But the American People, i think if we down that path, we should go in the strongest possible way, and thats all im going to say about the subject. May i Say Something . And i know Chairman Schiff and
chairman nadler would repeat what im saying. You know, the American People in the last election, even from trump districts said, we want to make the president accountable. A lot of people loved him, they liked him, but they wanted to make him accountable. We have been stonewalled with regard to getting information, access to witnesses and getting documents. All of us have. Remember the president said, you know, im not going to give you anything, really. And so, again, the speaker is absolutely right. Were gathering information and we are met with significant force, but were plowing our way through. But all of that information piece by piece is like a mosaic. It paints the picture. You all along said there is no point in moving forward because republicans controlled the senate. Its going to die in the senate. Is that no longer your feeling . I have never long said that. I have never long said that. If we have a case for impeachment, thats the place we will have to go. The fact that i would like it to be a strong case is because its based on the facts, the facts and the law. Thats what matters, not politics, not partisanship, just patriotism. I dont care i mean, id like the senate to be responsible and honor their Oath Of Office to protect and defend the constitution, to see what a challenge this is to our National Security, what the russians are trying to do to our country. But the stronger our case is, the worst the senate will look for just letting the president off the hook. Speaker pelosi, even after
this we have these great chairmen here who know so much. Please. Im going to start asking them questions. Even after these hearings, the president said hes completely exonerated despite what mr. Mueller said. What do these hearings really change . You give me the opportunity to say this and i invite my chairmen to close. We want to have the strongest possible case to make a decision as to what path we will go down. That is not endless in terms of time or endless in terms of the information that we want. But if it comes to a point where the Cone Of Silence and the Obstruction Of Justice and the coverup in the white house prevents us from getting that information, that will not prevent us from Going Forward. In fact, its even more grounds to go forward. My colleagues . I just want to echo that. You know, mueller said something
thats in my brain, particularly now. He says, there comes a point where silence becomes betrayal. And we refuse to betray generations yet unborn and the American People. Were not going to betray them. Were accumulating information and doing the best we can. Again, with a force as great i dont know how many lawyers the president has, but hes got a lot of them. And they go against every single thing we do. And so, again, were not going to betray america, were going to do our part to make sure that we have a democracy thats intact. Jerry . The United States is a democracy. It must remain a democracy. A democracy acts through the elected officials with the consent of the people. The people cannot give that
consent unless they know the facts. Today was a watershed day in telling the facts to the American People. With those facts, we can proceed. And we face a time of great danger. Richard nixon said he thought that the president was a dictator. He said, if the president does it, that means its not illegal. President trump echoed that yesterday. He said under article 2, i, that is he, can do anything i want. That is a totalitarian picture, not a democratic picture. The United States must be saved from this. So we have to paint the picture of whats going on, a picture of someone who gladly accepted help from a foreign power interested in subverting our democratic election process, and thats what it is, subverting our election process and taking the choice of our president to some extent away from the American People. Thats what the russians attempted to do and thats what
the Trump Campaign welcomed them in doing. A president who engages in crimes, repeated crimes, to cover up these unpatriotic and dictatorial actions. This cannot go on and its up to congress to safeguard the constitution, and we will do it. As i mentioned today during our hearing, i think the story of the 2016 election is really a story of disloyalty to country about greed and about lies. And if there is anything that i think symbolizes those three strands of the 2016 election, it was moscow trump tower. It was this massive real estate project that the president was trying to consummate while he was running for president and Concea Li Concealing it from the country. This showed disloyalty to the country by seeking this Business Deal while he was running for president. It certainly showed the greed of the people involved in that campaign and an ample demonstration of all the lies that permeated the campaign and its aftermath. That to me is the story of the 2016 election. We need to make sure that is not the story of the 2020 election. And ill say this on the issue of impeachment which i view in very much the same way as the speaker. Maybe im just an old prosecutor, but before i brought a case to indictment, i wanted to make sure that i had the strongest evidence possible. I wanted to understand my case, i wanted to be able to make my case. Now, i tried an Impeachment Case in the senate about ten years ago, a corrupt Federal Judge who was convicted, so i have some understanding of what it takes to get a conviction in the senate, and i have no illusions about getting a conviction in the senate. But there are two juries in an
impeachment. There is the jury which is the senate which decides removal from office, and then there is the jury that is the American People. And im most concerned about the jury that is the American People. And before we embark on a course as significant to the country as the impeachment of a president , i want to make sure that we can make that case to the jury of the American People. One of the guide i thank our distinguished chairmen, so proud of all of them. Just following up on the last statement by Chairman Schiff, e. Pluribus unum. Thats the guidelines they gave us. They wanted to make sure we were one. As we go down this path, we want it to be unifying for our country, not dividing. Thats why we want it to be the strongest possible case. Lincoln said, president lincoln said public sentiment is everything. Well, in order for the public to have the sentiment, the public has to know. I hope you will be messengers of the truth to the public. We think today was really a milestone in making that sentiment be more informed. Thank you all very much. Thank you very much. So there you have it. Im wolf blitzer here in the Situation Room where were following Breaking News of the house democrats, as you just saw. They wrapped up about a half hour News Conference in the wake of Robert Muellers testimony before the house judiciary and Intelligence Committees earlier in the day. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said shes sticking with her relatively go slow for building a case of impeachment by the House Of Representatives against the president. The president , and you heard him live on cnn, hes claiming the mueller hearings were a complete victory for himself and the republicans, leaving the whi republicans. Leaving the white house just a
little while ago, the president combatively dismissed what he called a ridiculous hoax. However, Robert Mueller told lawmakers he did not totally exonerate the president as the president has repeatedly claimed. And the former Special Counsel agreed that the president wasnt always truthful in answering questions. Lets go to our senior congressional correspondent, manu raju, who was there at the nancy pelosi News Conference. Were getting a lot of reaction from these democratic leaders. Reporter thats right, and a lot of discussion about impeachment. This has been a topic thats actually been a significant one at a closed door Democratic Caucus meeting. Moments ago the speaker making very direct comments about impeachment and making it clear that this is not off the table. She made it clear she wants to get more information in the courts. How long that takes is still an open question. She said it would not be endless. When i asked her directly about her contention for some time that the Republicanled Senate will not convict the president , making it unnecessary of sorts,
or making it harder for the house to move forward in an Impeachment Proceeding, she pushed back and said that is not her standard whether or not the republicans go along with it, she said it is about getting information. You have long said there is no point in moving forward with an Impeachment Inquiry because the republicans controlled the senate, its going to die in the senate. Is that no longer your chief concern . I have never long said that. I have never long said that. If we have a case for impeachment, thats the place we will have to go. Reporter so she has in the past said very clearly that the Republicancontrolled Senate is a place where impeachment essentially would go to die because the republicans are unlikely to take it up. That was part of what she has been saying for some time, but pushing back there making it clear that that is not what shes concerned about is an interesting comment from the speaker. She says she does want to see what the Court Proceedings eventually draw out in terms of
information. What that exactly means is unclear, whether or not that would simply delay things even further, Court Proceedings will play out for some time. Jerry nadler, the chairman of the judiciary committee, announced they will move forward on two lawsuits today. Theyve been planning to move forward on one, getting grand jury information in the Mueller Problem r probe, and two, to try to compel don mcgahn to Hand Over Records and testify before his committee, but those could take some time, so what will that actually mean for the speaker if she will move on a green light for an Impeachment ProceedingGoing Forward. We know that members of our caucus will more than likely support an Impeachment Proceeding. She says she wants the courts to play out and see where that leads on the question of opening up an Impeachment Proceeding. The leader of the house Intelligence Committee is not there, either. Sara murray has been following
all the details of these meetings. Sara, the democrats were clearly hoping mueller would provide some damaging testimony about the president. Did they get what they wanted . Wolf, i dont think they got the bombshell they were hoping for. They didnt even get a straight answer of whether the president committed a crime, whether this was meant to be an impeachment referral. Instead they got an uneven perfor