Trump is ‘almost self-impeaching’ by refusing subpoenas and protecting Mueller report, Nancy Pelosi says

Still, she doesn't plan on moving forward with impeachment proceedings herself just yet

House speaker Nancy Pelosi says Donald Trump is digging his own grave, even if she and her fellow Democrats in the House are resisting impeaching the president so far.

With Washington still reeling in the wake of the release of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report — and attorney general William Barr’s decision to snub the House Judiciary Committee leading to contempt votes — Ms Pelosi has said she is waiting for congressional investigations to uncover all the evidence.

In the meantime, she thinks Mr Trump is doing himself no favours by resisting those investigative efforts, including recent subpoenas for his adult son, Donald Trump Jr, to testify about his contacts with Russians.

“The president is almost self-impeaching because he is every day demonstrating more obstruction and disrespect for Congress’s legitimate role to subpoena,” Ms Pelosi said on Thursday during her weekly press briefing.

Ms Pelosi has repeatedly insisted that Democrats are not moving forward on impeachment proceedings against the president, and have instead decided to wait for House committees to continue with their investigations.

Just this week, the Justice Department and White House resisted those investigations, however, with a top official writing a letter to the House Judiciary Committee notifying them that the West Wing was asserting executive privilege over the entire Mueller report and underlying evidence.

The decision came as a deadline to comply with a subpoena for those materials approached, and the snub led the committee to vote to hold Mr Barr in contempt.

If the House ultimately approves of the holding Mr Barr in contempt, it would likely be a largely symbolic act.