Key Pelosi lieutenant calls on her to transmit articles of impeachment to the Senate

House Armed Services Chairman Adam Smith (D-Wash.), a top lieutenant of Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), said Thursday that she should go ahead and transmit the articles of impeachment against President Trump to the Senate and allow a trial to begin.

Smith’s high-profile break with Pelosi came shortly before she deflected when asked by a reporter about her impasse with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). Pelosi said she knows when she’ll send the articles to the Senate, adding, “I won’t be telling you right now.” Pelosi has said she first wants McConnell to unveil the rules of a trial regarding Trump’s conduct toward Ukraine.

The crux of the Democrats’ case is the allegation that Trump tried to leverage a White House meeting and military aid, sought by Ukraine to combat Russian military aggression, to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to launch an investigation of former vice president Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden, as well as a probe of an unfounded theory that Kyiv conspired with Democrats to interfere in the 2016 presidential election.

Pelosi deflected Thursday morning when asked about her plans for transmitting the articles of impeachment to the Senate.

“I know exactly when, but I won’t be telling you right now,” she told reporters as she entered a closed-door meeting of House Democrats.

Asked to react to Smith’s break with her on transmitting the articles, Pelosi replied, “I’m a big fan of his.”

During a television interview earlier Thursday, Smith, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said, “I think it is time to send the impeachment to the Senate, and let Mitch McConnell be responsible for the fairness of the trial.”