Pelosi leaves the door open for new articles of impeachment against President Trump

Here we go again.

In an interview on Sunday morning, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) left the door open to new articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump.

Pelosi was asked by ABC's George Stephanopoulos, "You said he has violated the constitution again and again. Do you think it's possible the House may have to file new articles of impeachment?"

"Well, let's just see what the Senate does," the Pelosi responded.

Pelosi added, "The ball will be in their court soon, and as I say, the American people have been very fair in saying 'yes, we do want to see witnesses.' That wasn't part of the discussion three weeks ago."

What's happening?

House Democrats impeached Trump on Dec. 18, 2019, alleging the president had engaged in "high crimes and misdemeanors" in his dealings with Ukraine. Democrats approved two articles of impeachment against the president: obstruction of Congress and abuse of power.

The impeachment vote broke along party lines and not a single Republican backed the measures.

The constitutional process for impeachment is that the House sends the approved articles of impeachment to the Senate, which is tasked with conducting a trial to determine whether the president or federal official should be removed from office. Pelosi has yet to formally submit the articles of impeachment to the Senate, though.

Pelosi was said to be holding on to the articles of impeachment to try to influence how the Senate would conduct its trial. However, as TheBlaze's Nate Madden reported, the House Speaker said during a press briefing with reporters on Thursday that she will send them to the Senate "when I'm ready," which "will probably be soon."

Politico reported on Friday that Pelosi will be sending the articles of impeachment to the Senate this week.

"I have asked Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler to be prepared to bring to the Floor next week a resolution to appoint managers and transmit articles of impeachment to the Senate," she said in a letter to House Democrats.

Republicans respond to Pelosi

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has said that the Senate cannot hold a trial until the House submits the articles of impeachment. He has also described the notion of Pelosi dictating terms to the Senate as a "fantasy."

Earlier in the week, McConnell announced that Senate Republicans had sufficient votes to agree to "phase one" of a trial without having to accept Democrats' demands on the process.

Reacting to Friday's news, McConnell said on Friday that he was "glad" the articles of impeachment were finally being sent to the Senate.

"We've been anxious to get started ... how many weeks has it been now?" McConnell told reporters. "It's been a long wait, I'm glad it's over."