Pelosi Praises House Impeachment Managers as ‘Magnificent Custodians of the Constitution’

Though impeachment is now in the upper chamber, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) seems very happy about the seven impeachment managers who have spent the last few days arguing for impeachment in the Senate.

During a press conference on Thursday, the speaker said, “I am very proud of our managers.”

“We believe they have been magnificent custodians of the Constitution. By dint of their content, their presentation, their historic perspective, and their tone. They have made us all proud and I’ve told our colleagues, they give us a magnificent example to follow.”

Moments later, Pelosi slammed President Donald Trump’s defense team in the Senate, saying that the team “is there to dismantle the Constitution of the United States.”

See her remarks below:

Speaker Nancy Pelosi calls House managers "magnificent custodians of the Constitution," while criticizing Pres. Trump's legal team: "The president's team is there to dismantle the Constitution of the United States—and some of them are even lawyers." https://t.co/ya9kdBWH01 pic.twitter.com/k5ZE18ynO8

— ABC News (@ABC) January 30, 2020

Pelosi’s seven impeachment managers are a team that includes Reps. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), Sylvia Garcia (D-Texas), Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), Val Demings (D-Fla.), and Jason Crow (D-Colo.). Schiff and Nadler were obvious picks for the role because they both chair committees that spearheaded the impeachment inquiry in the House.

The managers have done their best to convince the Senate to at least vote to hear from witnesses in the impeachment trial — a vote that’s expected to occur on Friday.

Among the more rousing performances by the House managers came from Schiff, who declared, during a late-night speech, “If right doesn’t matter, we’re lost. If the truth doesn’t matter, we’re lost. The Framers couldn’t protect us from ourselves if right and truth don’t matter.”

Meanwhile, Trump’s defense team is a sort of collection of his most vocal defendants on cable news. The most notable figures are Alan Dershowitz, who rose to fame during his defense of O.J. Simpson, and Ken Starr, who was the independent counsel in the investigation and eventual impeachment of former President Bill Clinton during his time in office.