Pelosi shouldn’t rush impeachment

[BloombergOpinion]( [Early Returns]( [Jonathan Bernstein]( Get Jonathan Bernstein’s newsletter every morning in your inbox. [Click here to subscribe](hash=b9b2681361bede0e1069ca238efb1ec2). With House Speaker Nancy Pelosi [announcing]( the next steps in the impeachment process on Thursday, Democrats now face two tough choices: What should go in the formal impeachment articles they’re drawing up? And how quickly should they move? Keeping in mind Brendan Nyhan’s [reminder]( that Pelosi is good at her job, I’ll still suggest that she could be taking some unnecessary risks. On the first question, it seems likely that there will be three articles, two focused on Ukraine and a third on obstruction of justice in the special counsel’s investigation — which, as Greg Sargent [reports](, some Democrats are resisting. I think Sargent is right that if they’re going to do this, they might as well include all the major ways in which President Donald Trump has violated his oath of office. That would probably entail a catchall abuse-of-power article that could charge the president with everything from his [disregard]( for secure communications to his contempt for official-records laws to his attacks on the media. It should also include his violation of the constitutional emoluments clauses. Would Democrats in marginal districts shy away from supporting a more comprehensive impeachment? Perhaps. But that’s fine: As long as the Ukraine articles pass with a unified Democratic vote (or close to it), there’s no harm in winning by a narrower margin on the others or even losing them. In the impeachments of both Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton, articles were defeated along the way and promptly forgotten by everyone. And it’s just as likely that those in tough districts would welcome a chance to split their votes. As for [timing](, Pelosi’s urgency is probably warranted. But the rush to get this done before the Christmas recess — to get from drafting articles to approving them in committee to considering them on the House floor to voting on them in just two weeks — seems arbitrary. Perhaps Pelosi is worried that waiting until January could jeopardize votes that she now has. But if Democratic support is really that tenuous, then she’s risking a disaster in the Senate. I don’t see the downside to spending the next two weeks presenting the case carefully, gathering further evidence and then beginning deliberations in the judiciary committee when Congress returns. Of course, holding off too long would weaken the Democrats’ argument that Trump’s behavior is so egregious that it demands impeachment even this late in his term. But a late February vote would have some advantages. It would mean a trial after the Democratic nomination process is well underway — or has even produced a winner — and it would allow time to meet a number of other House filing deadlines. For those lawmakers who are queasy about the whole process, it would also put plenty of time between impeachment and the November election. That said, Pelosi usually knows what she’s doing, and she knows more about what her caucus is thinking than outsiders do. But I do wonder whether a pause would make sense to think over the best course of action — and to make sure that haste isn’t going to force any preventable mistakes. 1. Lynn Vavreck, John Sides and Chris Tausanovitch find that impeachment is [an extremely high priority for both Democrats and Republicans](. If that’s what lawmakers are hearing, it certainly helps explain why they’re all moving toward the party line. 2. Dave Hopkins on [impeachment and the nomination contest](. 3. Rachel Bitecofer on the [limitations of “electability” polling](. Yup. Another problem: Even when candidates are well known, voters will almost certainly think of them very differently in November than they do now. 4. John Compton at A House Divided on Trump and the “[institutional weakness of American evangelicalism](.” 5. And Jeremy Young on [“unity” in U.S. politics](. Get Early Returns every morning in your inbox. [Click here to subscribe](hash=b9b2681361bede0e1069ca238efb1ec2). Also subscribe to [Bloomberg All Access]( and get much, much more. You’ll receive our unmatched global news coverage and two in-depth daily newsletters, the Bloomberg Open and the Bloomberg Close. Bloomberg L.P. ● 731 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10022 [Web]( ● [Facebook]( ● [Twitter]( [Feedback]( ● [Unsubscribe](