Now that Nancy Pelosi has finally realized that she has no “leverage” and pushed off the beginning of an impeachment trial just long enough to mess with presidential campaigns, she finally announced her picks for her dream impeachment managers team this morning in front of cameras.

There are really no surprises in her choices.

Today, I have the privilege of naming the Managers of the impeachment trial of the President. #DefendOurDemocracy pic.twitter.com/Y2613Ni3pC

— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) January 15, 2020

“This is about the Constitution of the United States,” Pelosi said, as she presented the Democrats’ legal team and noted that she put an emphasis on “litigators” in assembling them.”

The managers include House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., who will be the lead manager and who directed much of the impeachment inquiry out of his committee, and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., whose panel drafted the articles of impeachment.”

Pelosi also tapped House Democratic Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y.; Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo.; Val Demings, D-Fla.; Sylvia Garcia, D-Texas; and Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif.”

Many of the managers were chosen because of their backgrounds: Lofgren has been involved in three presidential impeachment proceedings: as a Judiciary Committee staffer during former President Richard Nixon’s and a committee member during former President Bill Clinton’s impeachment, and now as a manager.”

However, Pelosi definitely tipped her hand when she was in front of the cameras – after all, this is going to be the last time that she has any semblance of input in the impeachment process, so she was going to milk this moment for all it was worth. Even if that means going for the super-dramatic hyperbole.

“This is a very serious matter and we take it to heart in a really solemn way,” Pelosi said. “It’s about the Constitution, it’s about the republic if we can keep it and [senators] shouldn’t be frivolous with the Constitution of the United States even though the president of the United States has.”

She added: “The president is not above the law. He will be held accountable. He already has been held accountable. He has been impeached and you can never erase that.”

Oh, yes, the “super solemn” card that she tried to play when the impeachment vote actually happened, and then talked about the “spring” in her step the next day. Next, Pelosi will be wearing an “IMPEACHED 4EVA” campaign button pin for the State of the Union, just to reeeeeeeally drive that point home, I’m sure. Also, someone should have been playing “Time In A Bottle” as the background music for this press conference, considering how many times Pelosi said “time” in her opening sentences.

Despite the totally serious solemnity and the relief that the American public must feel, knowing that the brain trusts of Adam Schiff and Jerry Nadler are in charge of making the case to the Senate (and someone needs to remind Schiff now that he can’t try anymore fan fic in his opening statements), the delay of the entire impeachment trial for no good discernable reason except that Pelosi’s Botox-fogged brain thought it would be totally awesome has pretty much undermined the alleged “urgency” of this case.

The presser seems entirely structured to defend Pelosi as a master strategist on impeachment despite every indication to the contrary. The rushed impeachment was a blunder of the first order but this seems more about the House members than the House case. https://t.co/bqAeWYrArU

— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) January 15, 2020

But back to the impeachment at hand. Schiff and Nadler are demanding witnesses. As Ken Starr pointed out, if they follow the Clinton model, the House impeachment managers will make their case first, then the Senate will vote on any witnesses. And in the Clinton impeachment, all the witnesses were interviewed outside the Senate chambers and their testimony was brought in via videotape. There were no live witnesses on the Senate floor. That would be quite a blow for the media, who are hoping for wall-to-wall must-see-TV. Imagine if the Senate agrees to witnesses, and we get one John Bolton testimony for one Hunter Biden testimony, but it’s all on video instead of live. What a letdown for the media that would be!

The impeachment trial will likely start next Tuesday (Monday is a federal holiday), as Chief Justice Roberts and the entire Senate could be sworn in on Thursday, when the newly-appointed House impeachment managers actually show up at the Senate to formally submit the articles of impeachment and read them into the record.

Now that the final players have been tapped to move into position, let’s just get this thing with the foregone conclusion over with, please.

Featured image: Original artwork by BrandX Studios, used with permission