Trump erupts, blows up meeting, as Pelosi pursues impeachment lite

Well, Nancy Pelosi sure got an explosive reaction.

Not long after the House speaker accused President Trump of a "cover-up," the president hastily assembled reporters in the Rose Garden to forcefully deny her charge, denounce the Mueller investigation once again and rip the press as well.

He had just stormed out of a meeting with Pelosi and Chuck Schumer about pursuing an infrastructure plan. Trump, in his impromptu remarks and in response to questions, made clear that he couldn't negotiate with the Democratic leaders in light of Pelosi's slam and the endless investigations after the Mueller "witch hunt."

Chuck and Nancy promptly held a counter-news conference and talked about ... infrastructure.

It was nothing short of surreal. Pelosi made no reference to her time-bomb of a comment. "We believe that no one is above the law including the president of the United States. And we believe that the president of the United States is engaged in a cover-up," she had told reporters.

Instead, she went on about the importance of building projects, harkening back to Thomas Jefferson and Teddy Roosevelt. And Schumer said Trump had seized on a "pre-planned excuse" to blow up the meeting. They took no questions.

Pelosi doubled down at a later event with the Center for American Progress, saying "this president is obstructing justice ... and that could be an impeachable offense."

Trump was already mad, as we can tell from a morning tweetstorm, and the "cover-up" rhetoric was the tipping point. Still, there's no question this was a tactical misstep by Pelosi. You don't hurl a charge against anyone you're about to hold a business meeting with, especially a president who has built his career on counterpunching. What, did she think he wouldn't notice? She was surrounded by cameras.