As Trump’s Impeachment Trial Starts, Pelosi and Pence Will Be in Israel for Holocaust Day
WASHINGTON – As U.S. President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial begins in the Senate this week, both the vice president and the House speaker will be in Israel to take part in International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Mike Pence and Nancy Pelosi are both due to arrive in Israel this week to attend the event organized by President Reuven Rivlin and the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial and museum.
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Hijacking the Holocaust for Putin, politics and powerHaaretz Weekly Ep. 57
While Pelosi led the impeachment process against Trump in the House, she has appointed several lawmakers as “impeachment managers” to present the case against the president to the Senate. Thus her presence is not a necessity at every stage of the trial.
As for Pence, while he holds a tie-breaking vote in the Senate and could potentially be asked to use it at some point during the deliberations, it’s not very likely that his absence will have any impact on the trial. After spending two days in Israel, Pence will stop in Italy for an official visit on his way back to Washington.
Last week the White House confirmed Pence’s participation, and on Monday it was confirmed that Pelosi will lead a delegation of senior members of the House of Representatives.
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence speaking at a campaign event in Kissimmee, Florida, January 16, 2020. AP / John Raoux
Pelosi will be joined by several senior U.S. representatives who are Jewish, including five Democrats: Eliot Engel of New York, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee; Nita Lowey, chairwoman of the House Appropriations Committee; Ted Deutch of Florida; Brad Schneider of Illinois and Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida.
Also accompanying Pelosi will be Rep. Joe Wilson, a Republican from South Carolina. Before heading to Israel, the delegation will visit the former Auschwitz concentration camp that the Nazis set up in German-occupied Poland in 1940. Auschwitz was liberated by the Soviet army 75 years ago this week.