Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC-6). PHOTO CREDIT: Ralph Alswang via Center for American Progress and Flickr Creative Commons.

Though the Usual Suspects continue to loudly bang the impeachment drum, one leading House Democrat has had to rein in recent remarks he made suggesting it was inevitable.

On Sunday, the House’s third-ranking member James Clyburn (D-SC-6) told CNN‘s Jake Tapper during an interview that it was just a matter of time before the President would be impeached:

House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) said Sunday he believes President Trump will be impeached “at some point” but that Democrats must first build a case for impeachment. Clyburn, the third-ranking Democrat in House leadership, offered the remarks in an interview with Jake Tapper on CNN’s “State of the Union.” When Tapper asked Clyburn if he thought Democrats would launch impeachment proceedings against Trump, he said, “Yes, that’s exactly what I feel.” “What [Speaker] Nancy Pelosi [D-Calif.] is trying to do, and the rest of us in the House of Representatives, is to develop a process by which we can efficiently move on this issue so that when we get to a vote, it would be something that she calls ironclad, I call effective. And that is why we are trying to take our time and do this right,” Clyburn added.

After a private leadership meeting the next day, Clyburn was singing a different tune:

“I’m probably farther away from impeachment than anybody in our caucus,” Clyburn (D-S.C.) told reporters Monday night. “We will not get out in front of our committees. We’ll see what the committees come up with. I’ve said that forever.” Asked by POLITICO whether he thought impeachment proceedings were inevitable, Clyburn simply said no.

Though Pelosi has maintained that she wants to take time with the process, she said today that she “respected” the impatience of Democrats like Clyburn:

"No, I'm not feeling any pressure," Speaker Nancy Pelosi says when asked about impeachment. "Make no Mistake. We know exactly what path we're on … while that may take more time than some people want it to take, I respect their impatience," she adds https://t.co/VX83YrTVqe pic.twitter.com/8H1DKtFZnk — ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) June 5, 2019

Ed Morrissey at Hot Air writes that though calls for impeachment seem to grow louder each day, the actual positions of House Democrats seem to indicate that the rush is not as strong as some would suggest:

The New York Times’ whip count shows that the momentum is real, but so is its opposition. As of noon yesterday, 56 House Democrats want an impeachment inquiry, while 59 publicly oppose — or at least refuse to support — such a move. The other 120 apparently don’t want to discuss it, which speaks volumes about the project and of Pelosi’s sway over the caucus. As James Clyburn can attest.

On a related note: Does anyone get the feeling that some House Dems are rushing to get the impeachment process rolling ASAP because of potentially damaging findings that may come from Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s upcoming report on alleged FBI abuses of FISA in 2016?

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—Based in North Carolina, Sister Toldjah is a former liberal and a 15+ year veteran of blogging with an emphasis on media bias, social issues, and the culture wars. Read her Red State archives here. Connect with her on Twitter.–