Nancy Pelosi Attempting Impeachment 'Quid Pro Quo' Within Senate, GOP Congressman Steve Scalise Says

Louisiana GOP Congressman Steve Scalise accused House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in a Fox News interview of trying to negotiate her own "quid pro quo" within the Senate. He also contradicted Senate Leader Mitch McConnell's own comments, claiming the Senate "will hold a fair trial."

Scalise echoed the frustration of several top Republican lawmakers Sunday morning, as he demanded Pelosi hand over the two articles of impeachment to the Senate immediately. Both Pelosi and Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer have said that if the Trump administration does not agree to present witnesses, it will simply be a Republican-run "sham trial."

Scalise mocked Pelosi for what he described as her trying to receive assurances from the Senate for which she is not owed: "It's not her role to go over to the Senate, she could run for the Senate if she wants to be a senator. But the House has a role, the Senate has a role," Scalise told Fox News Sunday.

Last week, Alaska GOP Senator Lisa Murkowski said she was "disturbed" by McConnell's boast he would work in "total coordination" with the White House while conducting the trial. Scalise brushed that off Sunday, repeatedly saying he has complete faith McConnell will conduct a "fair trial." But in the same breath, Scalise said he knows for sure Trump will be acquitted.

"In the end, the Senate is going to conduct a fair trial I have confidence in Mitch McConnell, but there was not a fair trial in the House," Scalise told Fox News. "The House broke a lot of rules to ram through this impeachment charade...The Senate will hold a fair trial, you'll see an acquittal, everybody knows it will end in acquittal."

The Louisiana Republican continued railing against Pelosi for holding onto the articles of impeachment, saying she has an "obsession with impeachment" and agreed with the Fox News host that she is "overreaching by trying to influence a Senate trial."

"Maybe she's trying to carry out her own quid pro quo by acting as if she has some kind of role in the Senate trial. They had a weak case, I think she knows they had a weak case," Scalise continued, saying Pelosi is trying to appease her "radical base" on the left.

"You can't have it both ways, I think people see through this charade, it's a political charade. It's not what our founders intended impeachment to be used for...there was no crime committed and so now all they're doing is trying to attack the president personally because their field is so weak on the Democratic side."

Scalise detoured at the end of his interview Sunday morning, lashing out against former President Barack Obama and former Vice President Joe Biden: "I wish Barack Obama and Joe Biden would have stood up to Russia," he proclaimed.