“Supreme Court FINALLY signs VERDICT to IMPEACH Speaker Pelosi as Hunter’s Laptop IMPLICATES her.”
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No, Nancy Pelosi is not being impeached
If Your Time is short
- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is not being impeached and the Supreme Court has no impeachment powers.
- The U.S. Constitution gives Congress the authority to impeach a federal official.
- Pelosi is not connected to the saga of Hunter Biden’s laptop.
A sensationalized Facebook video claims the U.S. Supreme Court is impeaching House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., — even though the court lacks that authority.
The 10-minute video was shared July 20 and is titled "Supreme Court FINALLY signs VERDICT to IMPEACH Speaker Pelosi as Hunter’s Laptop IMPLICATES her." The video features a collection of clips from politicians including Sen. Ted Cruz , R-Texas, Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.
First of all, the video’s title is inaccurate. The Supreme Court doesn’t have the power to impeach a federal official; only members of Congress have that ability, as laid out in the U.S. Constitution.
The video was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)
The House of Representatives has the "sole power of impeachment," and the Senate has "sole power to try all impeachments," according to the Constitution. This means representatives can bring forward charges of impeachment against an official, and it’s up to a vote of senators whether to convict the official or acquit them of charges.
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The only role the Supreme Court has in an impeachment proceeding is when a chief justice presides over the impeachment of a president.
At no point in the video did any of the politicians talk about Pelosi being impeached. Instead, they criticized Pelosi for decisions they disagreed with or talked about things unrelated to the Democratic leader.
The video’s first clip is a speech Cruz gave July 29, 2021, in which he said Pelosi was "drunk on power" after a mask mandate was reinstated for House members following a rise in COVID-19 cases. The second clip shows Boebert during a House session on July 27, 2021, talking about how amendments she proposed for a spending package were rejected without debate, claiming Pelosi had silenced her constituents and the American people.
The third clip features McCarthy criticizing Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., on March 18, 2022; the fourth clip is a speech made by Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, on March 28, 2022, calling for an investigation into President Joe Biden’s family.
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Tying to the video’s headline, McCarthy and Grassley refer to Hunter Biden’s laptop, which originated from a 2020 story published by the New York Post that claims a laptop belonging to the president’s son was purportedly left at a repair shop in Delaware. There’s no reported connection to Pelosi and the laptop.
Our ruling
A Facebook video claims the U.S. Supreme Court is impeaching House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
The Supreme Court does not have the power to impeach federal officials; only the House has the ability.
The video features several unrelated clips of politicians and provides no evidence to back up its claim.
We rate this Pants on Fire!
Our Sources
Facebook post, July 20, 2022
U.S. Senate, About Impeachment, accessed July 25, 2022
YouTube, "Cruz on the Senate floor: Pelosi mask mandates are unprecedented, abusive," July 29, 2021
NPR, "Masks will return To The U.S. House And White House after the CDC changes guidance," July 28, 2021
C-SPAN, U.S. House of Representatives House Session, Part 1, July 27, 2021
The New York Post, "Kevin McCarthy blasts Adam Schiff over previous Hunter Biden laptop claims," March 18, 2022
U.S. Congress, Congressional Record — Senate, March 28, 2022
The New York Times, "What we know and don’t about Hunter Biden and a laptop," Oct. 20, 2020
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No, Nancy Pelosi is not being impeached
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