Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi is pushing back against claims she changed the precedent on impeachment inquiries.

In an interview with MSNBC, Pelosi denied having changed precedent in the chamber, as Speaker Kevin McCarthy has claimed in recent days to justify opening the impeachment inquiry into President Biden without a vote. 

Pelosi attempts to clarify that the House held a vote to launch the first impeachment inquiry into former President Trump in 2019, but did so about a month into the investigation. She called McCarthy’s argument “hogwash.” 

But a USA Today story from 2019 says otherwise: “After meeting with Democratic lawmakers in a closed-door meeting, Pelosi said it was not necessary to take the additional step on a probe that is already well underway. ‘There’s no requirement that we have a vote,’ Pelosi said. ‘We’re not here to call bluffs. We’re here to find the truth to uphold the Constitution of the United States. This is not a game for us. This is deadly serious.’”