Pelosi erupts during meeting with top Dems about impeaching Trump: 'I want to see him in prison'

Democratic leadership remains deeply divided over whether or not to impeach President Donald Trump, with tensions escalating during a Tuesday night meeting during which House Speaker Nancy Pelosi exclaimed that she wanted to see the president "in prison" even though she isn't ready to impeach, according to Politico.

What's this about? Ever since special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation report became public, Democrats have been faced with the reality that it's either time to impeach quickly or drop the issue and hope a Democrat wins the 2020 election.

Opponents of impeachment, like Pelosi, fear the political backlash of an impeachment effort that will almost certainly be squashed by the Republican-held Senate.

"I don't want to see him impeached, I want to see him in prison," Pelosi reportedly said at the meeting.

Impeachment advocates like Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), the House Judiciary Committee chairman, are ready to get moving on impeachment now believing that the public hearings and investigations associated with the effort will be beneficial regardless of what the Senate does with it.

Why this is dividing the party: Some Democrats in the House have been extremely vocal about impeaching the president. Their enthusiasm to go after President Trump creates pressure for Democrats in neighboring districts who have to explain why they don't support impeachment.

Fake public unity? Despite the reported rift within the party over impeachment, both Pelosi and Nadler claim they are on the same page on the issue.

"Make no mistake, we know exactly what path we're on," Pelosi said Wednesday. "We know exactly what actions we need to take."

"When that decision has to be made, it will be made not by any one individual, it will be made probably by the caucus as a whole," Nadler said. "Certainly Nancy will have the largest single voice in it."