Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., meets with reporters during her weekly news conference at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2019. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
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Pelosi calls for articles of impeachment against Trump - then doesn't want to talk about it
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday called on the House Judiciary Committee to proceed with drafting articles of impeachment against President Trump -- but she'd rather talk about other things. Pelosi sought to move on from questions about impeachment during a televised town hall Thursday night, even as she insisted she wasn't bothered at all by polls showing sagging support for the probe against Trump.
"Can we not have any more questions about impeachment?" Pelosi asked at one point during the CNN event. "I don't mind questions, but to ask me questions through the prism of the White House is like, what?"
Pelosi's comments at the town hall came hours after things got heated earlier in the day during her televised remarks on impeachment. She bristled when a reporter asked her whether she hated the president. In addition, questions remain over whether Pelosi has secured enough Democrats to vote for impeachment as the effort barrels forward. She has not suggested any particular timeline for a vote, saying only, "We will proceed in a manner worthy of our oath of office."
Observers have said the timing of such a vote could indicate whether Pelosi has enough Democrats to vote to impeach. If she has the votes, Pelosi will likely give the green light to impeach on the floor. If she doesn’t have the votes, impeachment could wait -- conceivably until the new year.
Trump has challenged Democrats to get on with it. Before Pelosi's announcement Thursday, the president tweeted, “They have no Impeachment case and are demeaning our Country. But nothing matters to them, they have gone crazy. Therefore I say, if you are going to impeach me, do it now, fast, so we can have a fair.... trial in the Senate, and so that our Country can get back to business." Click here for more on our top story.
Republican legal scholar 'inundated with threatening messages' after testimony opposing Trump impeachment
Jonathan Turley, the sole Republican witness during the House Judiciary Committee's first public impeachment hearing Wednesday, said he has been "inundated with threatening messages" since his testimony, which argued that Democrats do not have enough evidence to support articles of impeachment against President Trump.
"Before I finished my testimony, my home and office were inundated with threatening messages and demands that I be fired from George Washington University for arguing that, while a case for impeachment can be made, it has not been made on this record," Turley wrote in an op-ed for The Hill on Thursday.
The law professor appeared alongside three other legal scholars with opposing views Wednesday. He warned that Democrats would be ill-advised to rush to a vote on impeachment articles because they do not have a complete record of witness testimonies and supporting evidence to prove that Trump abused his power to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to open an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden's business dealings there. Click here for more.
Florida high-speed chase of hijacked UPS truck ends in gunfire, four reported dead
A harrowing police chase in South Florida on Thursday ended in gunfire with as many as four people -- including a United Parcel Service driver -- shot dead, according to law enforcement.
Also among the dead were two robbery suspects, who had hijacked the UPS driver's truck, and a fourth person traveling in a nearby vehicle, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. Coral Gables police said the ordeal started with a robbery at Regent Jewelers at 386 Miracle Mile. Shots were fired and the two robbers jumped into the UPS truck and sped off, taking the delivery driver with them.
It's been a dangerous holiday season for UPS drivers so far. A manhunt was underway in Northern California on Thursday night for two suspects who allegedly robbed three UPS drivers at gunpoint this week in separate incidents.
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SOME PARTING WORDS
Sean Hannity says Joe Biden's "unhinged" response to an Iowa voter who asked him about his son Hunter's relationship with a Ukrainian natural gas company shows he is "starting to crack."
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