--- title: Nancy Pelosi: It Could Be Possible to Indict President Trump description: Nancy Pelosi has indicated she thinks a sitting president can be indicted canonical: https://time.com/5492812/nancy-pelosi-trump-indict/ author: Mahita Gajanan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-01-03T13:44:28.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-12T15:47:04.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: Nancy Pelosi Says It Could Be Possible to Indict President Trump og:description: Nancy Pelosi has indicated she thinks a sitting president can be indicted og:url: https://time.com/5492812/nancy-pelosi-trump-indict/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2b395f04aeed65cc/69894290e76ad229cd633e4d/nancy-pelosi-today-indict.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5472 og:image:height: 3078 og:image:alt: Congressional Leaders Speak To Media After Meeting With President Trump At White House og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Nancy Pelosi Says It Could Be Possible to Indict President Trump twitter:description: Nancy Pelosi has indicated she thinks a sitting president can be indicted twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2b395f04aeed65cc/69894290e76ad229cd633e4d/nancy-pelosi-today-indict.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 video:duration: 02:46 video:published: 2019-01-03 section: politics topics: Speakership of the House, Women in Congress, Centennial of women's suffrage, Bipartisanship, Transparency in government, Public activism, Swearing-in ceremony genre: news, ceremony coverage tones: celebratory, hopeful, formal, proud emotions: pride (high), hope (medium), joy (medium) sentiment: positive audience: political news followers, voters, civic-minded readers, women in leadership people: Nancy Pelosi organizations: United States House of Representatives transcript_source: publisher captions transcript_reviewed: not applicable ---  # Nancy Pelosi Says It Could Be Possible to Indict President Trump > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=e37a7dc5-b3a9-4b65-aff3-5f19fe546c15&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Nancy Pelosi Just Outlined Her Agenda for the Most Diverse Congress Ever [Watch (HLS stream): Nancy Pelosi Just Outlined Her Agenda for the Most Diverse Congress Ever](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/YxU9Nbim.m3u8) (2:46)  _Published 2019-01-03. Nancy Pelosi Just Outlined Her Agenda for the Most Diverse Congress Ever_ Description, summary, key points, chapters, key quotes, questions and transcript, where present, were produced automatically from the video or its captions and were not reviewed. ## Summary Nancy Pelosi is elected Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives at the start of a new Congress. She accepts the gavel and pledges a transparent, bipartisan and unifying Congress. She highlights the number of women in the chamber and the centennial of women's voting rights, credits recent public activism, and is sworn in as Speaker. ## Key points - Nancy Pelosi is nominated and recognized as the once and future Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. (00:04) - Pelosi says she is particularly proud to be a woman Speaker of the House. (00:38) - The Congress marks the 100th year of women having the right to vote. (00:42) - Over 100 women are serving in Congress, the largest number in history. (00:55) - Pelosi pledges that this Congress will be transparent, bipartisan, and unifying. (01:03) - Pelosi credits tens of thousands of public events, hundreds of thousands of attendees, and millions of calls over the past two years. (01:19) - Pelosi invites her grandchildren and other children to join her when she takes the oath. (01:40) - Pelosi takes the oath of office to support and defend the Constitution and is congratulated as Madam Speaker. (02:11) ## Chapters - [00:00 to 00:30] Nomination as Speaker. Pelosi is nominated for Speaker and a blessing is offered for her and the nation. - [00:30 to 01:03] Gavel handover and pledge. Pelosi receives the gavel, reflects on being a woman Speaker, and pledges a transparent, bipartisan Congress. - [01:03 to 01:45] Public activism and family. Pelosi credits public activism over the past two years and invites children to join her for the oath. - [01:45 to 02:11] Children join on stage. Children are invited up to the stage as the swearing-in is prepared. - [02:11 to 02:46] Oath of office. Pelosi takes the oath of office and is congratulated as Speaker. ## Key quotes - [00:38] Nancy Pelosi: "I am particularly proud to be a woman Speaker of the House." - [01:03] Nancy Pelosi: "And I pledge that this Congress will be transparent, bipartisan, and unifying." - [01:11] Nancy Pelosi: "That we will seek to reach across the aisle in this chamber and across divisions across our nation." - [01:29] Nancy Pelosi: "even sick little children are little lobbyists, our little lobbyists, bravely came forward to tell their stories" - [02:20] Nancy Pelosi: "I do." ## Questions this video answers - Who was elected Speaker of the United States House of Representatives? [00:04] - What does Pelosi pledge for this Congress? [01:03] - Why does Pelosi say this Congress is significant for women? [00:42] - How many women are serving in this Congress? [00:55] - What role did public activism play, according to Pelosi? [01:19] - What oath does the Speaker take? [02:11] by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Updated: Dec 12, 2023 3:47 PM UTCPublished: Jan 3, 2019 1:44 PM UTC Nancy Pelosi Just Outlined Her Agenda for the Most Diverse Congress Ever by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Updated: Dec 12, 2023 3:47 PM UTCPublished: Jan 3, 2019 1:44 PM UTC Nancy Pelosi has indicated she thinks a sitting president can be indicted. Speaking with the _Today_ show ahead of being sworn in as House speaker for the second time on Thursday, Pelosi was asked whether special counsel Robert Mueller should abide by the Department of Justice’s guidance stating a sitting president can’t be indicted in his investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election. “I do not think that that is conclusive,” Pelosi said. “No, I do not.” > [](https://twitter.com/TODAYshow/status/1080801047994662912) When asked whether Mueller could indict President Trump over his campaign’s alleged connections with Russia, Pelosi seemed open to the possibility. “I think that is an open discussion, in terms of the law,” she said. Issued in 2000, the guidance from the DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel says, “The indictment or criminal prosecution of a sitting President would unconstitutionally undermine the capacity of the executive branch to perform its constitutionally assigned functions.” Pelosi noted that “It’s not the law,” while speaking with _Today_. “Everything indicates that a president can be indicted after he is no longer president of the United States,” she said. Pelosi also did not rule out the possibility of Trump being impeached. “We have to wait and see what happens with the Mueller report,” she said. “We shouldn’t be impeaching for a political reason, and we shouldn’t avoid impeachment for a political reason.” ## Transcript [00:00] Let me be clear house Democrats are down with NDP [00:04] Nancy D'Alesandro Pelosi the once and future speaker [00:05] of the United States House of Representatives I proudly [00:07] place her name in [00:15] nomination, may God bless her, may god bless the [00:19] United States of America. I extend my hand of [00:21] friendship To every member of this body, and [00:26] to the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, I extend to [00:30] you this gavel. [ APPLAUSE ] Thank you, everybody. I [00:30] am particularly [00:38] proud to be a woman Speaker of the House. Of this [00:42] Congress which marks the 100th year of woman [00:46] having the right to vote. [ Cheering ] and that we all [00:51] have the ability and the privilege [00:55] to serve with over 100 woman and members of [00:59] congress The largest number in history. And I pledge [01:03] that this Congress will be transparent, bipartisan, and [01:07] unifying. That we will seek to reach across the aisle in [01:11] this chamber and across divisions across our nation. In [01:16] the past two years, the American people have spoken. [01:19] Tens of thousands of public events were held. [01:22] Hundreds of thousands of people turned out, millions [01:25] of calls were made, countless families, even sick little [01:29] children are little lobbyists, our little [01:33] lobbyists, bravely came forward to tell their stories and [01:36] they made a big difference. I'd like to call my [01:40] grandchildren up to be here when I take the oath, and [01:43] any other children that wanna join them. Come on, [01:45] kids. Me, me [ LAUGHTER ] [ BLANK_AUDIO ] If [02:11] the gentlewoman from California would please raise [02:13] your right hand, which you are doing. Do you solemnly [02:16] swear that you will support and defend the Constitution [02:20] of the United States against all enemies, foreign and [02:23] domestic. That you will bear true faith and allegiance [02:26] to the same. That you take this obligation freely [02:30] without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion. [02:33] And that you will well and faithfully discharge the [02:36] duties of the office Which you are about to enter, so [02:38] help you God? I do. 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