Trump calls Democrats 'deranged,' 'spiteful' in angry letter to Pelosi over impeachment

Show Caption Hide Caption President Trump wrote a public angry letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi President Trump wrote a strongly-worded six-page letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi with his thoughts on the historic impeachment vote expected this week.

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump slammed a historic impeachment vote expected this week in the House as “spiteful” and “terrible” in a rambling, six-page letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Tuesday.

Trump accused Democrats of “declaring open war” on democracy with their impeachment drive. Minutes later, in an appearance in the Oval Office, he echoed many of those same points and said he feels “zero” responsibility for his expected impeachment.

“Any member of Congress who votes in support of impeachment – against every shred of truth, fact, evidence, and legal principle – is showing how deeply they revile the voters and how they detest America’s Constitutional order,” Trump wrote.

“Your Speakership and your party are held hostage by your most deranged and radical representatives of the far left,” he wrote. “Look at yourself and others. Do not take our country down with your party.”

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Trump said he prepared the letter for “the purpose of history and to put my thoughts on a permanent and indelible record.” The White House released the document as the House Rules Committee was setting the terms of debate on an impeachment vote in the House that could come as soon as Wednesday. House Democrats are expected to approve that vote, making Trump only the third president in U.S. history to be impeached.

The House will vote on an article of impeachment accusing Trump of abusing his oath of office by withholding about $400 million in military aid to Ukraine in exchange for the country working on investigations that would have benefited him politically.

In a July 25 phone call, he urged Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, a leading 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, and his son Hunter. Hunter Biden once served on the board of Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company.

A second article of impeachment accuses the president of obstructing the investigation by blocking aides from testifying and withholding documents.

Trump has insisted he did nothing wrong and that his phone call with Zelensky was “perfect.”

Relying frequently on exclamation points to punctuate his sentences, Trump asserted Democrats are trying to distract the public from his economic record.

"More due process was afforded to those accused in the Salem Witch Trials," he wrote at one point, though he did not acknowledge that Democrats had repeatedly afforded his lawyers an opportunity to take part.

Democrats control the House with a large enough majority to impeach Trump even if a few members vote no. The chamber has 233 Democrats, 197 Republicans and an independent, Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan, who is expected to support impeachment. Four seats are vacant.

If the Democrats are successful in impeaching Trump, the Senate will hold a trial.

Conviction and removal by the Senate would require a two-thirds majority, which is considered unlikely in the Republican-led body.

On Capitol Hill on Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., declined to answer questions from reporters about the timing of a trial or whether witnesses would be called.

Asked if he would be an impartial juror, he replied, “I’m not an impartial juror. This is a political process. There’s not anything judicial about it.”

What's next for impeachment? Full House vote this week on charges against Trump, Senate trial likely

Trump accused Democrats of some of the very charges brought against him in the formal impeachment proceedings.

“You are the ones interfering in America’s elections. You are the ones subverting America’s Democracy. You are the ones Obstructing Justice. You are the ones bringing pain and suffering to our Republican for your own selfish personal, political, and partisan gain.”

Trump said he found Pelosi's “false display of solemnity” to be most insulting.

In announcing that she had directed the House Judiciary Committee to draft articles of impeachment, Pelosi spoke of Congress’ “solemn” duty to act as a check on the president.

Pelosi told lawmakers in a letter Tuesday that they would exercise one of their most solemn powers Wednesday when the chamber votes on articles of impeachment.

She didn’t mention Trump’s letter in her note. But she said the House needed to act to support and defend the Constitution.

“If we do not act, we will be derelict in our duty,” Pelosi said.

She urged lawmakers to participate in the debate with “great seriousness and solemnity.”

“Very sadly, the facts have made clear that the President abused his power for his own personal, political benefit and that he obstructed Congress as he demanded that he is above accountability, above the Constitution and above the American people,” Pelosi said. “In America, no one is above the law.”

Trump said Pelosi had little respect for the American people if she expected them to believe she was “approaching impeachment somberly, reservedly, and reluctantly.”

“This is not a somber affair. You are making a mockery of impeachment and you are scarcely concealing your hatred of me, of the Republican Party, and tens of millions of patriotic Americans.”

Trump echoed many of the same remarks to reporters in the Oval Office minutes after the White House publicized the letter by posting it on Twitter.

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After the letter's release, reporters asked Trump in a meeting with Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales whether he took any responsibility for the impeachment drive.

The president responded: "No, I don't take any. Zero, to put it mildly."

Critics responded by mocking him.

"Where's that Baby Trump balloon when you need it?" tweeted Matthew Miller, a spokesman for the Justice Department during the Barack Obama administration.