One day after a guilty verdict was handed down to President Donald Trump's former campaign manager and a guilty plea came from his former lawyer, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi told KQED that Trump has "engendered a culture of cronyism and corruption in D.C.," but warned that any effort at impeachment would need to be bipartisan.
Pelosi sat down with KQED for more than an hour the day after a series of stunning legal developments, including the indictment of San Diego Republican Congressman Duncan Hunter on campaign embezzlement charges. Pelosi noted that Hunter was the second member of Congress to endorse Trump -- and that the first, New York Republican Congressman Chris Collins -- was also recently charged with insider trading. Both were early and ardent supporters of Donald Trump's candidacy.
But Pelosi said the litany of legal developments don't change her view that Democrats shouldn't be running on a promise to impeach the president -- that instead, they should focus on the issues that matter to their constituents. She said voters know about Trump without candidates having to harp on the message.
"Let's seek the truth, find the truth, and protect the Mueller investigation ... and stop the assault on the DOJ," she said, referring to the Department of Justice. "We have to protect the integrity of the system he's making an assault on."
Pelosi also pushed back on recent calls for her to step down as leader of the House Democrats, saying that "special interest, dark money" and the opposing party shouldn't be choosing Democrats' leader.