Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi followed her signing of the articles of impeachment by declaring the process is not actually about “proof” against President Donald Trump.

In a briefing with reporters on Thursday, the California Democrat answered questions about the impeachment process and, specifically, witnesses offering testimony during the Senate trial which began on Thursday.

(Video: Fox News)

“It’s not a question of proof,” Pelosi said at one point, answering questions about Attorney General William Barr and potential witnesses in the trial.

With what seemed like rather a low view of “proof” over “allegations,” Pelosi remarked that indicted Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas would be a “credible witness.”

“Well, credible relates to the documents and the rest. It certainly raises questions,” she responded when asked about Parnas and his claims following media interviews. “And again, there seems to be documentation that would validate what Parnas is saying but that all has to be subjected to scrutiny.”

“But Parnas is under federal indictment. So would he be a credible witness?” a reporter asked.

“He’d be a credible witness if what he is testifying to relates to the issue at hand, the president’s behavior. But again, they — there is a process for — for how you go forward with witnesses and that’s not done in the basement of the congressional visitors center but in — you know, among those who are making those decisions about how to go forward,” Pelosi replied.

Another reporter attempted to ask her about Barr, in light of allegations made by Parnas during interviews this week that implicated the attorney general, Trump and others for being very involved in the Ukraine controversy.

“What I said that the attorney general was implicated is, I’ve said this testimony implicated the rogue attorney general who has been the puppet of the — well, I don’t know who is the puppet, Trump or the attorney general — but this is not — he says this is my attorney general — this is my Department of Justice. Really?” the Democrat leader rambled.

“So, in any case, it’s not a question of saying proof, it says what allegations have been made,” she finally concluded.

“And that has to be subjected to scrutiny as to how we go forward but it should not be ignored in the context of other events that have happened that would substantiate some of that,” Pelosi said.

Democrats have been clamoring for witnesses to appear in the impeachment trial as Republicans, under Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, have threatened against the push. Democrats have called for former national security adviser John Bolton to testify as well as Parnas, following his allegations in media appearances this week.

CNN’s Jake Tapper took a shot at Democrats Thursday over the rush to willingly accept the claims about the Ukraine controversy from Parnas, who has a “serious credibility problem.”

CNN’s Jake Tapper rips gullible Dems going all in on Lev Parnas: He has a ‘serious credibility problem’ https://t.co/Z6y4MVn8FF — Conservative News (@BIZPACReview) January 17, 2020

“He’s under indictment for campaign finance charges. The foreign minister of Ukraine told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour that he doesn’t trust a word Parnas is saying,” Tapper said. “And yet, I see people out there on social media — Democrats — acting as if this guy is the second coming of Theodore Roosevelt or something.”

McConnell slammed Pelosi Thursday after she signed the articles of impeachment, making a mockery of the serious situation by handing out commemorative pens to House managers as a “souvenir” of the occasion.

‘Is this the face of someone somber?’ Gloating Pelosi and her celebratory impeachment pens ‘jarring’ even for CNN https://t.co/BpW807S5LI — Conservative News (@BIZPACReview) January 16, 2020

“Golden pens on silver platters. A souvenir to celebrate the moment,” McConnell said. “Nothing says seriousness and sobriety like handing out souvenirs. As though this were a happy bill-signing instead of the gravest process in our Constitution.”