Pelosi,
who sharpened her rhetoric over the weekend, is still not committing to moving forward with impeachment proceedings -- but she is feeling the tide turn.
In a brief interview with CNN as she flew from New York to Washington Monday, Pelosi again declined to say whether she would fully endorse initiating an impeachment inquiry when she meets with committee chairmen and members of the Democratic caucus on Tuesday. But she left little doubt the developments around the whistleblower's complaint had dramatically escalated the standoff with President Donald Trump and a move toward impeachment proceedings was all but certain.
"We will have no choice," Pelosi said of ultimately initiating an impeachment inquiry. She did not say whether the move toward impeachment could be slowed if the White House provided the whistleblower's report.
During the flight, Pelosi read a
Washington Post op-ed from seven freshman Democrats who made the case for impeachment.
She said she had advance notice the lawmakers were planning to join forces to collectively argue the president's actions "represent an impeachable offense."
"It will be a big week," Pelosi said.
The reason: The substance of the complaint is not yet clear. And it's still unclear how the Trump administration will respond.
Multiple Democratic sources told CNN that if the White House completely stonewalls Democrats for the information, it will make the calculus easier for moving forward with impeachment proceedings. But if the White House provides a transcript, or seeks to muddy the waters in its response, that could make it more challenging for Democrats to unify behind impeachment, even
after President Donald Trump's admission of discussing Vice President Joe Biden and his son in his phone call with the Ukrainian leader.