House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the article of impeachment against Donald Trump will be sent to the Senate soon, triggering the start of his trial, but refused to give a timetable.

The House impeachment managers -- the prosecutors who will present the case against Trump -- are in contact with the Senate about the timing, Pelosi said at a news conference where she repeatedly declined to discuss timing.

“I don’t think it will be long,” she said.

The article accuses Trump of inciting insurrection for stoking a crowd of his supporters who then stormed the Capitol in a riot on Jan. 6 that left five people dead. Sending the article to the Senate would require an almost immediate start for the trial, inevitably drawing attention away from President Joe Biden’s first days in office and potentially slowing confirmation of his cabinet picks.

The House speaker dismissed the criticism from some Republicans that proceeding with the trial of a president who is no longer in office would undermine the message of unity that Biden emphasized at his inauguration. Pelosi said Trump must be held accountable for his role inciting the mob.

“Just because he’s now gone, thank God, you don’t say to a president ‘do whatever you want in the last months of your administration, you get a get out of jail card, free,’” she said.