Here's what's behind Pelosi's non-impeachment impeachment strategy

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., at a news conference Jan. 17, 2019 (video screenshot)

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was forced into an impeachment vote she didn't want by the extremists in her party, and now she's desperately trying to undermine the inevitable acquittal vote in the Senate because she wants to maintain her position as House speaker.

That's the verdict of talk-radio host Rush Limbaugh, who pointed out on Monday the pressure she faced from her party's far left.

Pelosi has balked at submitting articles of impeachment to the Senate, Limbaugh said, because she knows an acquittal is coming.

"She is trying — with the help of Chuck You Schumer and some others — to portray the whole process as corrupt. She’s portraying the whole process as partisan and racist. You know, whatever labels they can throw out. By withholding the articles of impeachment, Pelosi is saying, 'I'm not sending 'em over there because it isn't gonna be a fair trial, and I'm not gonna throw my guys to the wolves here. They've worked hard. They’ve put together an impeachable case, and it's gonna be tossed out? I'm not gonna do that,'" Limbaugh said.

Since the Constitution gives the Senate control over any impeachment trial, Pelosi has no say in the matter.

Limbaugh said Pelosi, nevertheless, is trying to shift the blame to McConnell.

"She's saying, 'Look, Mitch and these Republicans have already announced how they're gonna vote,' and Mitch had the perfect reaction. 'Oh, don't give me that. You're telling me Schumer isn't partisan? You're telling me Schumer hasn’t made up his mind already? Dick Durbin?'"

Limbaugh said Pelosi is "doing the one thing that was clearly, obviously available to her before this all started, and that is tainting the process."

"She's now claiming, 'Well, we need more witnesses. We just discovered a new email. We just discovered a new scandal. We need new witnesses.' The answer to it is, 'Wait a minute. You could have called those witnesses.' 'No, they wouldn't show up.' 'You go to court. It was because you were in a hurry, Madam Speaker. You had to get this done.'"

Limbaugh said she would have had a "legitimate fight" with extremists in her own party had she not done impeachment.

But there's a lot that is personal, too, he said.

"She wants to remain speaker. She wants to remain leader of the Democrats. I’m pretty certain that if she did not have these outside pressures that are very immediate. ... I don’t think she would have followed this through. I don’t think there would have actually been articles of impeachment. But she did it for. ... There’s a host of reasons, but among them is personal," he said.