After Decades in the House, Pelosi Still Has Not Read the Constitution, Critics Take Her to School and Eats Her Lunch

Pelosi said:

“The Grand Jury has acted upon the facts and the law. No one is above the law, and everyone has the right to a trial to prove innocence. Hopefully, the former President will peacefully respect the system, which grants him that right.”

Unfortunately or rather I should say fortunately she needs to tell Pat Sajak that she wants to buy a clue. In the United States, a person who is accused of a crime is presumed innocent until proven guilty. An accused person is not required to prove their innocence.

A lot of people have weighed in on the comments coming from Congress’s most frequent inside trader. She really isn’t the person who should lecture on morals. Especially when you are talking about the last and future president. I wish we had one now and not the Lobbyist for China in Chief.

The Grand Jury has acted upon the facts and the law.

No one is above the law, and everyone has the right to a trial to prove innocence.

Hopefully, the former President will peacefully respect the system, which grants him that right.

— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) March 31, 2023

Cornell Law School also explains:

The presumption of innocence is not guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution. However, through statutes and court decisions—such as the U.S. Supreme Court case of Taylor v. Kentucky—it has been recognized as one of the most basic requirements of a fair trial.

“Ms. Pelosi mistakenly says that Trump can prove his innocence at trial. Law in the US assumes the innocence of a defendant and the prosecution must prove guilt for a conviction.”

Pelosi’s tweet went viral garnering over 10 million hits. The Backlash was brutal:

• “This exactly the opposite of how this works. Nobody is required to ‘prove innocence’ in our criminal justice system. See the 5th, 6th, 8th, and 14th Amendments, or any episode of ‘Law and Order,'” Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-N.D.), a lawyer, said.
• “The right to ‘prove innocence’? This is America, not Stalinist Russia,” Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), a lawyer, responded.
• “Wrong. So obviously wrong. Most Middle Schoolers know this—at least they used to, when civics and the Constitution was respected in schools. You’re innocent until proven guilty,” Rudy Giuliani, a lawyer, responded.
• “This is exactly backward. Under our justice system, no one has to prove innocence. The state must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. You’d hope a former speaker would know the basics of law and be precise, especially in such an unprecedented and seemingly flimsy prosecution,” former Rep. Justin Amash, a lawyer, said.
• “Uh it’s ‘innocent until proven guilty’ not opportunity to ‘prove innocence,'” Ben Shapiro, a lawyer, said.
• “Nancy Pelosi is dead wrong here. Does she really have no clue that the burden is not on a defendant to prove their innocence at trial?” former Rep. Lee Zeldin, a lawyer, responded.
• “Stalinist Pelosi. Prove innocent? It’s innocent until proven guilty, moron. Or at least used to be,” BlazeTV host Mark Levin, a lawyer, responded.

From Wlos

Twitter’s “Community Notes” function later added a fact check note on Pelosi’s tweet, saying “readers added context they thought people might want to know.”

Ms. Pelosi mistakenly says that Trump can prove his innocence at trial,” the fact check reads. “Law in the US assumes the innocence of a defendant and the prosecution must prove guilt for a conviction.”

Twitter also added a link to Cornell Law School’s website definition of “presumption of innocence.”

A presumption of innocence means that any defendant in a criminal trial is assumed to be innocent until they have been proven guilty,” the Cornell Law School says on its website. “As such, a prosecutor is required to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the person committed the crime if that person is to be convicted.”