Joe Kennedy: Pelosi handling impeachment the right way
Rep. Joe Kennedy on Sunday defended House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s decision not to send, at least not yet, the articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump to the Senate.
“I think the speaker is doing everything she can to ensure that there is as fair and open and transparent a process as there can be, particularly given the weight of the evidence,” the Massachusetts Democrat said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
The House approved two articles of impeachment Dec. 18, voting almost entirely along party lines. The next step is for the Senate to hold a trial with the 100 senators acting as jurors and Chief Justice John Roberts presiding, but Pelosi has yet to send the articles over, saying she wants the Senate to set the rules for the trial first.
Defending Pelosi’s decision, Kennedy said there is “literally nothing more consequential” that Congress can tackle than the impeachment of a president. He said Pelsoi should do everything she can to ensure the process ends up being as “accurate and fair as can be.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said he plans to coordinate with the Trump White House on the president’s defense. Kennedy objected to McConnell’s approach.
“You don’t go and do that. That makes a mockery of the entire system,“ he told host Jake Tapper.
He also said he didn’t think there was anything to be gained from having former Vice President Joe Biden testify in this case. Kennedy said there’s not been a “credible allegation that the vice president has done anything wrong put forward by anybody.“
Kennedy grew up as part of one of the most famous political families in America. Speaking from that perspective, he said he understood concerns that Hunter Biden’s business dealings in Ukraine rubbed many people the wrong way.
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“I’ve had plenty of family members in office. I understand the responsibility that comes with holding a position of public responsibility and ensuring that there is a very clear delineation there so that others aren’t profiting off of it,” Kennedy said.
But Kennedy also offered concerns about the business dealings of “the current president’s children,” which he said may or may not be appropriate.
“Let‘s be clear and make sure everyone is being held to the same standard,” he told Tapper.