House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) explains the path to impeachment to ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live." (Photo: Screen capture)

(CNSNews.com) - In a conversation about impeachment on with ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Thursday night, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said she knows better than anyone why President Trump must be called to account.

"So let me just say this immodestly. I probably have a better idea as to what the president has to be held accountable for than anyone...The only person who knows better than I why this president is not above the law, why this president must be held accountable, the only person who knows better than I do is the president of the United States. He knows. He knows what his violations have been."

Pelosi told Kimmel that Trump has "a defiance of the Constitution."

"He just doesn't love the Constitution that much," she said.

But aside from generally accusing the president of defying the Constitution and failing to uphold his oath to protect and defend it, Pelosi did not identify the specific crime that would warrant impeachment.

Pelosi said the Democrat-led House is "on a path to gain information," and she said Democrats need an "ironclad" case against the president, supported by the public, if not Republicans, before impeaching Trump.

Pelosi also explained why she thinks Trump wants to be impeached:

"Well, he knows it's not a good idea to be impeached. But the silver lining for him is, then he believes that he would be exonerated by the United States Senate. And there is a school of thought that says if the Senate acquits you, why bring charges against him in the private sector when he's no longer president? So when we go through with our case, it's got to be ironclad. Ironclad."

Kimmel suggested that President Trump and his administration are blundering out of ignorance: "I think sometimes they do things, and they go, oh, that's not allowed? And then they kind of go back and try to figure out what it was and how they can keep it quiet," he said.

You know what really bugs me about that? Pelosi said. "Because when you see what they say -- oh, I didn't know, I didn't know it was wrong to talk to Russians about this, I didn't know. I say...how do you explain that to kids in the hood when they're approached by law enforcement, and they say well, I didn't realize that I was supposed to do this or that. Well, they're supposed to know.

"But these very wealthy people with high-priced lawyers can get away with saying I didn't know it was wrong."

Kimmel told Pelosi, "That's why we need you to get in there and to take care of this and do something to these guys."

The audience applauded enthusiastically.