Fox News contributor Trey Gowdy told Fox News Monday that he thinks “most people are smart enough” to see through House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's move to withhold the articles of impeachment against President Trump from the Senate.

“If he [Trump] really is an existential threat to the republic, if he really has committed conduct that should result in his removal from office, then why would you not go ahead and send it on to the Senate?” Gowdy, the former chairman of the House Oversight Committee, asked on “The Daily Briefing."

“The Constitution gives the House no role in deciding how this trial takes place,” Gowdy told host Dana Perino.

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“It is exclusively within the providence of the Senate. I think most of my fellow citizens will see through this ‘let's hurry up and impeach him and then sit on the indictment for god knows how long.' I think most people are smart enough to see through that.”

Pelosi stunned Washington last week with her decision to withhold the articles -- which accuse Trump of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress over his dealings with Ukraine -- as she sought to pressure the Senate to agree to certain terms for a trial. In an unusual press conference Thursday, Pelosi, D-Calif., defended her decision while calling Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., a "rogue leader.”

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McConnell on Monday said Pelosi’s delay in sending articles of impeachment is an “absurd” position to take, saying the speaker “apparently believes she can tell us how to run the trial.”

“I wish this were a judicial proceeding, but keep in mind if it were, then [House Intelligence Committee Chairman] Adam Schiff would not have been leading the investigation, 60 House Democrats would not have made up their minds before the first syllable of the [Robert] Mueller [Russia] report,” Gowdy said Monday. “I mean you had Eric Swalwell [House Judiciary Committee member] investigating the president while he was trying to become the president. So you would never have that in a real judicial proceeding.”

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“I wish that it were like a judicial proceeding, but it's not," Gowdy added. "The jury has already made up its mind."

Fox News’ Joshua Nelson contributed to this report.