It seemed unlikely that Robert Mueller’s testimony Wednesday would sway Nancy Pelosi to give impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump her stamp of approval. But after the former special counsel declined to provide the fireworks many Democrats hoped would ignite a push to oust the president, she appears more resistant than ever to House Judiciary Committee chair Jerrold Nadler’s impeachment dreams.

Following back-to-back hearings Wednesday afternoon, Pelosi shot down Nadler’s call to begin drafting articles of impeachment, Politico reported, with the House Speaker calling such a move “premature.” At a subsequent caucus meeting, she continued to advocate for a “slow, methodical” approach to holding Trump accountable. But with Congress set to leave on their six-week recess Friday and the 2020 election drawing nearer, it seems as though her strategy will effectively run out the clock, even as she publicly raises concerns about Trump’s conduct. “I do believe what we saw today was a very strong manifestation—in fact, some would even say indictment—of this administration’s cone of silence and their cover-up,” Pelosi said in a news conference after Mueller’s testimony—perhaps her strongest statement yet on the subject. “This is very serious. Today was very important.”

Nadler and other pro-impeachment Democrats had hoped that Wednesday’s hearings would strengthen their hand, building support for their efforts both with their own party leaders and with the public. But the ex-special counsel’s testimony may have done just the opposite, as Mueller studiously avoided a spectacle and, in an apparent effort to appear neutral, declined to push back at Republican conspiracy theories. He did directly dismiss Trump’s claims that the Russia probe had resulted in his “total exoneration,” but such shots fell short of the seismic event Nadler and the nearly 100 Democrats in support of impeachment would have needed to persuade party brass.

In the meeting, Nadler nevertheless attempted to make his case, pointing out that few supported Richard Nixon’s impeachment at the onset, but that the movement gained momentum as more and more evidence of Nixon’s corruption came to light. Still, Pelosi appears convinced that such an effort against Trump would die in the Senate, and could sink Democrats in 2020. And after Mueller’s anticlimactic testimony, it seems even less likely that she’ll give in to progressives’ demands.

Even as the two sides butt heads in private, Democrats’ public calls to hold Trump accountable for “undermining democracy” are beginning to ring hollow. Back when impeachment was just a whisper in the ranks, the party line was to wait for the Mueller report. When that arrived this spring, outlining several episodes of brazen attempted obstruction by Trump, that line became, let’s wait to hear from Mueller himself. Pelosi is already moving the goalposts again, telling NBC News’ Kasie Hunt that “we have a number of lawsuits” in progress—implying that impeachment can’t be considered until Democrats’ court challenges and Congressional probes play out. She’s likely hoping that Democrats, over the next year and change, can continue to build a corruption case against Trump that will be settled not in the Senate, but in November 2020.

Yet a parade of damning revelations about Trump, both during the 2016 cycle and throughout his presidency, have seemingly failed to put a dent in his fender among Republicans. Pelosi’s investigate-but-don’t-impeach approach, meanwhile, could frustrate Democrats, many of whom are already impatient, and moderates, who could come to see her “methodical” inquiries as the fishing expedition the president and his allies have claimed they are. Mueller already laid out his case months ago, with the kind of authority and detail that some observers found absent in his testimony Wednesday. If Democrats find that actionable, the window for them to take action is closing; if not, it may be time to move on to other issues. “Mueller has given Democrats more than enough evidence that the president has committed impeachable offenses, but he can’t make the decision to impeach any easier for them,” former Obama speechwriter and Pod Save America host Jon Favreau told Politico. “Pelosi and the House Democrats have to either pick up the ball and run with it, or walk away for good. The middle ground strategy just isn’t working.”

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