Speaker Pelosi: Trump is engaged in ‘cover up’

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – As Democrats in the U.S. Congress debated possibly impeaching Republican President Donald Trump, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Wednesday that he is engaged in a “cover-up.”

Speaking to reporters after a meeting of House Democrats on Capitol Hill, Pelosi said: “No one is above the law, including the president of the United States. And we believe that the president of the United States is engaged in a cover-up.”

Democrats who control the House of Representatives and Trump are engaged in a high-stakes power struggle over their ability to investigate him, with the president stonewalling multiple investigations of him by congressional committees.

The probes range from whether Trump obstructed justice during Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s inquiry into Russian election meddling to his personal finances and businesses.

Pelosi and other senior House leaders have been trying hard for months to contain demands from more junior Democratic lawmakers to kick off impeachment proceedings.

Those demands mounted on Wednesday after former White House Counsel Don McGahn ignored a subpoena from the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday to appear before it and testify.

“For many of us, we think at least an impeachment inquiry would give us more ability to get witnesses to come to Congress. We’re just trying to figure out how to get the truth,” Democratic Representative Mark Pocan told MSNBC.

Pelosi made her remarks about an hour before she and other congressional leaders were scheduled to meet with Trump at the White House to discuss infrastructure development.

(Reporting by Susan Heavey; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh, Doina Chiacu and Jonathan Oatis)