Trump lashes out as impeachment trial stuck in limbo

Donald Trump has launched an excoriating attack on Nancy Pelosi, accusing her of doing a “disservice” to the country by overseeing his impeachment in the House.

A week after the House approved two articles of impeachment against the president, but with uncertainty hanging over his trial in upper chamber of Congress, Mr Trump used an appearance before rerpoters in Florida to denounce her actions.

Speaking at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, having addressed military personnel around the world, the president took aim at the House speaker, who had initially been opposed to impeachment because she realised how divisive the issue would be.

“She hates the Republican Party. She hates all of the people that voted for me and the Republican Party,” he said. “She’s doing a tremendous disservice to the country.”

Speaking of a trial in the Senate, where Republicans hold the majority and are expected to vote against impeachment, the president claimed Ms Pelosi was making demands of GOP leader, Mitch McConnell.

“We have the majority and now they want McConnell to do wonderful things for them,” he said.

After the president was impeached – the House passed one article of abuse of power and one of obstructing Congress – Ms Pelosi declined to transfer the case to the Senate, where senators will act as a jury.

The move has angered Republicans, who want to speedily clear the president and allow him to continue in office. The president’s lawyers even let it be known they may suggest he had not actually been impeached if the case did not reach the Senate.

It appears Ms Pelosi, considered a shrewd political operator has been trying to use the issue to try and put pressure on Republicans, as Democrats push four up to four former or current White House officials to be called as witnesses.

Mr McConnell has so far told Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leader of the Senate, he will not permit the witnesses and has admitted he is not an “impartial juror”.

Mr McConnell has said he has not ruled out calling witnesses, but has also indicated that he is in no hurry to seek new testimony either. Mr Schumer has said that any trial without witnesses would be “Kafkaesque” and a “sham.”

“Let’s put it like this: If there are no documents and no witnesses, it will be very hard to come to an agreement,” Mr Schumer said on Monday.

Mr Schumer is demanding witnesses who refused to appear during House committee hearings, including acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and former national security adviser John Bolton.

Mr McConnell, who has all but promised a swift acquittal of the president, has resisted making any guarantees, and has cautioned Mr Trump against seeking the testimony of witnesses for fear of prolonging the trial.

Instead, Ms McConnell appears to have secured Republican support for his plans to impose a framework drawn from the 1999 impeachment trial of Bill Clinton.

In that case, three witnesses, including Monica Lewinsky, gave video depositions, excerpts of which were then played in the Senate hearing. At that time, Democrats controlled the Senate, and Mr Clinton was permitted to remain in office, after it voted against the measures approved by the Republican-controlled House.

“We haven’t ruled out witnesses,” Mr McConnell told Fox News. “We’ve said let’s handle this case just like we did with president Clinton. Fair is fair.”

Additional reporting by Associated Press