Likens President Trump to oppressive monarch, threat to Constitution

Saying she wished the President's actions had not put her in that position, a somber looking House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) took to the televised podium Thursday to announce the House would proceed with drawing up articles of impeachment against President Trump, likening him to King George III, against which America rebelled to produce its experiment in democracy.

To a flurry of camera flashes and whirs, Pelosi stepped to the microphone to associate President Trump with an oppressive monarch and suggest he was an ongoing domestic enemy to the Constitution, the integrity of elections and the nation's security.

The speaker said she was asking committee chairs to draw up those articles, which would make President Trump only the third President to be impeached (Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton were the other two, with Richard Nixon resigning under the threat of certain impeachment and likely conviction).

Related: Professors Say Trump Committed Impeachable Offenses

The House must vote to improve the articles, then, if so, the Senate will hold the trial and have the ultimate vote on whether or not to remove the President--a very unlikely outcome given the Republican's control of the Senate and support of the President, or at least opposition to impeachment.

First quoting and then taking her cue from the Declaration of Independence, Pelosi said:

"In the course of today's events, it becomes necessary for us to address, among other grievances, the Presidents failure to faithfully execute the law."

She said the Constitution anticipated the potential return of a monarch in the form of a president who might be bribed by a greater interest to betray his trust.

Pelosi used some of the same language justifying impeachment articles that were used by the Democrats' witnesses--three law professors and constitutional scholars in a Judiciary Committee impeachment hearing the day before.

As had concluded those academics in no uncertain terms, Pelosi said the facts were uncontested that the President had abused his power for personal political gain at the expense of national security by withholding aid and a meeting until an announcement of an investigation into his political rival (former Vice President Joe Biden).

Pelosi cited that hearing testimony from the Democratic witnesses in announcing her decision--the Republican witness said there was insufficient fact evidence to support impeachment.