House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Getty Images/Saul Loeb)

“Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has been engaged in tactics of delay,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi declared Friday in a “Dear Colleague” letter announcing that she will stop refusing to send House-passed articles of impeachment to the Senate.

Pelosi began her letter by accusing McConnell of being the one who has been delaying the impeachment process:

“For weeks now, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell has been engaged in tactics of delay in presenting transparency, disregard for the American people’s interest for a fair trial and dismissal of the facts.”

Prior to Friday's announcement, Pelosi had been rejecting Republicans' public calls for her to send the impeachment articles to the Senate.



In her letter, Pelosi cited McConnell’s decision Thursday to sign on to a resolution that to dismiss the charges against Trump if she didn’t send the impeachment articles to the Senate:

“Yesterday, he showed his true colors and made his intentions to stonewall a fair trial even clearer by signing on to a resolution that would dismiss the charges. A dismissal is a cover-up and deprives the American people of the truth. Leader McConnell’s tactics are a clear indication of the fear that he and President Trump have regarding the facts of the President’s violations for which he was impeached.”

Pelosi closed by saying the Senate can expect to receive the impeachment articles next week, a move she says will force Senators to choose between either “the President or the Constitution”:

“I have asked Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler to be prepared to bring to the Floor next week a resolution to appoint managers and transmit articles of impeachment to the Senate. I will be consulting with you at our Tuesday House Democratic Caucus meeting on how we proceed further. “In an impeachment trial, every Senator takes an oath to “do impartial justice according to the Constitution and laws.” Every Senator now faces a choice: to be loyal to the President or the Constitution.”



Pelosi’s full letter is presented below: