Trump Acquitted by Senate
The former President was found not guilty after Senators agreed not to call witnesses
Former President Donald Trump was found not guilty by Senators on Saturday on a count of inciting the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, bring an unsurprising end to Trump’s second impeachment trial.
The former President was acquitted on the charge by a vote of 57-43, with 7 Republicans joining all 50 Democrats in voting to convict Trump, making it the most bipartisan presidential impeachment vote in the history of the U.S. Senate. But it takes 67 Senators, or two-thirds of the entire Senate, to secure a conviction. The Republicans who voted to convict are:
Sen. Richard Burr (NC)
Sen. Bill Cassidy (LA)
Sen. Susan Collins (ME)
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (AK)
Sen. Mitt Romney (UT)
Sen. Ben Sasse (NE)
Sen. Pat Toomey (PA)
The vote comes one month to the day after the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives voted to impeach then-President Trump for inciting his supporters to violently attack the U.S. Capitol on January 6, the day that Congress met to certify the electoral college votes. It also comes after hours of confusion in the Senate chamber, which began when Senators voted 55-45 this morning to allow witnesses to testify at the trial. In the end, House managers and the former President’s attorneys agreed to enter new evidence into the record, rather than call witnesses to testify.
The trial, which lasted 5 days, is now the shortest presidential impeachment trial in U.S. history. For comparative purposes, President Bill Clinton’s impeachment trial lasted 37 days and President Trump’s first impeachment trial lasted 21 days.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer criticized the verdict on Saturday afternoon, saying that his Republican colleagues chose to side with Trump over their country. He said that while the former President was acquitted by the Senate, he is confident that Trump will be found guilty in the court of public opinion.
Minority Leader Mitch McConnell seemed to make the case for voting to convict Trump after he voted to acquit. He said that he still holds the former President responsible for the events that took place on January 6, and he decried all of the false statements and conspiracy theories that led to the riot. But he continued to question the constitutionality of the trial, saying that former President Trump cannot be convicted because he is now a private citizen. He noted that Trump was still in office when the House voted to impeach, but not when the House delivered the articles to the Senate. (McConnell refused to begin the trial as soon as possible while he was still the Majority Leader.)
Now that the trial has concluded, President Biden and his administration are able to resume their legislative priorities. Both Republicans and Democrats agreed that a protracted trial could pose a threat to the new President’s top priorities, such as getting the pandemic under control and passing economic relief. There are also quite a few top cabinet nominations that the Senate has yet to vote on, most notable of which is Merrick Garland’s nomination for Attorney General.