UPDATE: Smith has walked back his statement publicly.

I misspoke this morning, I do believe we should do everything we can to force the Senate to have a fair trial. If the Speaker believes that holding on to the articles for a longer time will help force a fair trial in the Senate, then I wholeheartedly support that decision. — Rep. Adam Smith (@RepAdamSmith) January 9, 2020

Representative Adam Smith (D-WA) on Thursday joined the growing list of Democrats calling for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to quit delaying and send the articles of impeachment over to the Senate.

CNN “New Day” host John Berman asked Smith if he thinks it is time for Pelosi to send over the impeachment articles, to which Smith said it is because it will make Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) be “responsible for the fairness of the trial.”

“I think it is [time],” Smith stated. “I mean, I understand what the speaker was trying to do … to try to get a reasonable trial, a trial that would actually show evidence, bring out witnesses.”

He continued, “But at the end of the day just like we control it in the House, Mitch McConnell controls it in the Senate. I think it was perfectly advisable for the speaker to leverage that to get a better deal. At this point, it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen. And yes, I think it is time to send the impeachment to the Senate and let Mitch McConnell be responsible for the fairness of the trial. He ultimately is.”

Follow Trent Baker on Twitter @MagnifiTrent