Does Speaker Nancy Pelosi really believe that President Donald Trump is trying to goad Democrats into impeaching him, or this an elaborate ruse she’s trying to sell to keep the rabid, Trump-obsessed hard-left wing of her party inline?

The California Democrat was speaking at an “Inside Congress” event sponsored by Cornell University’s Institute of Politics and Global Affairs, and she said that Trump believes an impeachment ploy would help “solidify his base,” The Hill reported.

And Pelosi’s remarks suggest that she really does believe what she’s peddling.

“Trump is goading us to impeach him,” she said. “That’s what he’s doing. Every single day, he’s just like, taunting, taunting, taunting, because he knows that it would be very divisive in the country, but he doesn’t really care. [He] just wants to solidify his base.”

Pelosi said one of the articles of impeachment against former President Richard Nixon was for ignoring congressional subpoenas.

“In the articles of impeachment for Richard Nixon, Article 3 was that he ignored the subpoenas of Congress. That could be part of an impeachable offense. Every day he’s obstructing justice by saying this one shouldn’t testify, that one shouldn’t testify, and the rest,” she said. “So he’s making a case.”

Right on cue, the White House ordered former White House counsel Don McGahn on Tuesday not to turn over documents subpoenaed by House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y. As BPR reported, McGahan will follow the White House’s direction, and not comply with the subpoena.

The reasoning being that Trump is likely to exert executive privilege to prevent their release.

White House Counselor Pat Cipollone informed the House Judiciary Committee in a letter to go through the White House to request documents related to Mueller’s probe.

Attorney General William Barr defied a subpoena for the unredacted Mueller report and underlying evidence, prompting Nadler to move to hold Barr in contempt and he may do the same with McGahn.

President Trump tweeted Sunday that special counsel Robert Mueller “should not testify” on his Russian collusion investigation now being billed in the media as a probe into Russia’s election interference.

….to testify. Are they looking for a redo because they hated seeing the strong NO COLLUSION conclusion? There was no crime, except on the other side (incredibly not covered in the Report), and NO OBSTRUCTION. Bob Mueller should not testify. No redos for the Dems! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 5, 2019

Adding to Democrats’ frustrations, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin rejected their demands for Trump’s tax returns on Monday. And former White House counsel Don McGahn is refusing to comply with a Democrat Jerry Nadler’s subpoena seeking documents related to the Mueller probe.

But Pelosi is not ruling out impeachment, suggesting they will “be ready” if and when the time comes — either that or the speaker is dangling a carrot in front of the radical members of her party who are dead set on impeaching Trump.

“But he’s just trying to goad us into impeachment, and wherever you go, I say to my colleagues — whatever it is, be ready. And whatever it is, we’ll be ready,” Pelosi said. “And again, we owe that as a precedent for the future as well.”

Reps. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., and Alexander Ocasio-0Cortez, D-N.Y., are among the Trump-hating cabal pushing for impeachment.

Pelosi said back in March that she did not favor impeachment because “it divides the country” — a weak argument, given that dividing the country is what Democrats do.

“I’m not for impeachment,” she said. “This is news. I’m going to give you some news right now because I haven’t said this to any press person before. But since you asked, and I’ve been thinking about this: Impeachment is so divisive to the country that unless there’s something so compelling and overwhelming and bipartisan, I don’t think we should go down that path, because it divides the country. And he’s just not worth it.”