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I think it's time to move forward, but a couple nuggets in this suggest Dem leaders aren't so much avoiding an impeachment inquiry as they are continuing an "impeachment inquiry in all but name" for as long as they can while positioning to avoid 2020 political blowback:
1/
1/
“'Please don’t raise money off your impeachment stance,' Pelosi said after Huffman spoke" -- ie, she's specifically concerned with appearances.
2/
2/
"Elijah Cummings... warned that there could be a political cost of moving too quickly on impeachment" -- "too quickly" being an important qualifier.
Again, I think it's time to launch an impeachment inquiry, but as long as committees are scoring wins, I'm not apopleptic.
3/3
Again, I think it's time to launch an impeachment inquiry, but as long as committees are scoring wins, I'm not apopleptic.
3/3
Another clue re: Pelosi's strategy: though hearings ARE underway, she's resisting calling them "impeachment inquiry" in hopes of landing an infrastructure deal that Dems can tout to voters as progress + bipartisanship (so they can keep the House in 2020).
This is a lie, but it does help explain Pelosi's strategy:
Dumb. Infrastructure was the only policy Ds/Trump might have agreed on. She might spend a few days making it clear that Trump's the obstacle to bipartisanship, but Pelosi's now free to impeach + can use "otherwise nothing will get done" as her springboard.
TA-DA! "When, not if."
As I was saying above: Pelosi may take a few days to make people understand that impeachment is the only way to do "The People's Work"(™?), but otherwise Trump's temper tantrum today frees her to start a formal inquiry.
