How To Proceed With Articles Of Impeachment During Iran Escalations

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., arrives to meet with other House Democrats on the morning following Iranian attacks on bases in Iraq housing U.S. troops, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2020.

Hannah Uebele is a producer for Under the Radar with Callie Crossley and previously worked as associate producer for Boston Public Radio. She graduated from Tufts University with a B.S. in English and Environmental Studies. She's a proud Delawarean but has found herself saying "wicked" more and more often, so the Bostonian metamorphosis is well underway.Contact: hannah_uebele@wgbh.org

January 08, 2020

Updated August 07, 2023

Harvard Kennedy School professor David Gergen and Harvard Business School historian Nancy Koehn joined Boston Public Radio on Wednesday to discuss Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's impeachment strategy amidst enhanced tensions with Iran.

"In the midst of this near crisis - and I don't think we're out of it - with the Iranians, it would be wise to go ahead and get this trial done," Gergen said. "In my experience, White Houses have enough trouble just handling one crisis, and if you've got two going on there's a really big likelihood that you're going to make a mistake somewhere."

Koehn said she sees the issue differently and that due to the Iranian escalations Pelosi should wait before handing articles of impeachment over to the Senate.

"These are extraordinary times and the old rules of 'it's best to get the trial over with' I just couldn't disagree with more strongly," she said. "If I were Pelosi I would wait... let's get to a much calmer place."

Koehn is an historian at the Harvard Business School where she holds the James E. Robison chair of Business Administration. Her latest book is "Forged in Crisis: The Power of Courageous Leadership in Turbulent Times."

David Gergen is a Professor of Public Service at Harvard’s Kennedy School, where he founded the Center for Public Leadership. He’s also a CNN Senior Political Analyst. Previously, he worked for presidents Nixon, Ford, Reagan, and Clinton.