(CNN) Former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has reversed course and now says the House of Representatives should open an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump -- and that he has told House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

"It's not the right thing to do nothing," the Nevada Democrat told USA Today in an interview published Monday, adding, "It's not the right thing to jump into impeachment without doing an inquiry."

The inquiry's paramount objective would be to "give the American people a view of what's going on," he added.

Reid acknowledged the political risks of initiating impeachment proceedings, both in ginning up opposition support in upcoming elections -- which he witnessed firsthand during then-President Bill Clinton's impeachment proceedings -- and in depending on a Republican-led Senate unlikely to budge. But he stood by his support for an inquiry.

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