Republican Senators who voted against Trump’s impeachment have been described as cowards by speaker Pelosi
OpenLife Nigeria reports that House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, California, has blast Republican Senators who refused to stand up against former President Donald Trump and find him guilty in the failed impeachment trial.
“What we saw today in the Senate was a cowardly group of Republicans,” Speaker Pelosi stated.
Reacting, former President Trump says “I will always be a champion for the rule of law.”
All these are coming when United States of America Senate has acquitted former President Trump in his historic second impeachment trial, voting that Trump is not guilty of inciting the deadly Capitol riot.
Seven Republicans joined the 50 Democrats to find him guilty, but they fell short of a two-thirds majority needed to convict.
Trump is the only President in US history to ever be impeached twice and the first to have his impeachment tried in the Senate while out of office.
The Senate voted 57-43 today to acquit former President Trump of inciting an insurrection at the Capitol on Jan, 6.
Trump’s second impeachment trial lasted five days with both House managers and defense lawyers presenting evidence and arguments to support their positions.
Our live coverage of the trial has ended, but in case you missed it, here’s what you need to know about today’s proceedings:
Trump acquitted:
The vote to convict was 57 to 43, 10 short of the necessary threshold. It came after a long day of arguments over whether to allow witnesses at the trial and following closing arguments from both sides. Seven Republicans — Richard Burr, Bill Cassidy, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Mitt Romney, Ben Sasse and Pat Toomey — voted to convict.
House managers asked for witnesses: At the start of today’s trial, House lead impeachment manager Rep. Jamie Raskin announced that the managers were seeking to subpoena Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, a House Republican who first revealed a conversation between House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy and Trump in which the former President said the rioters cared more about the election results than McCarthy did. After Raskin announced Democrats would seek witnesses, Trump’s lawyer Michael van der Veen responded that if Democrats were going to ask for witnesses, Trump’s team was going to need 100 depositions.
A bipartisan Senate vote on witnesses: The vote was 55 to 45, with five Republicans joining Democrats in voting to allow witnesses. GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham initially voted no, but changed his vote to yes, meaning he changed his vote to allow witnesses.
Confusion and a break: Following the vote, there appeared to be some confusion on the Senate floor about the move, with one senator even asking what exactly they just voted on. Bipartisan groups of senators huddled, and the timeline of the trial seemed murky. Then the Senate went into a recess.
The evidence deal: Returning from the break, Senate leaders, the House managers and Trump’s legal team announced they had agreed to insert the statement of Rep. Herrera Beutler from a CNN report into the trial record, rather than taking a deposition.
Closing arguments: The House impeachment managers and Trump’s team then moved on to their closing arguments, signaling the trial would end without witnesses.
The 7 Republican Senators who voted to convict Trump
The Senate just voted to acquit former President Trump in his second impeachment trial. The vote was 57-43, with seven Republican Senators joining the Democrats. Senators needed a two-thirds majority to convict Trump.
These are the seven Republican Senators who voted to convict the former President:
Richard Burr, Bill Cassidy,Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski,Mitt Romney, Ben Sasse, Pat Toomey, Schumer blasts Trump’s acquittal as “un-American”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer tore into the Senate’s decision to acquit former President Trump, calling the vote “un-American” and insulting to patriots who gave their lives for our republic over the centuries.
“The former President inspired, directed, and propelled a mob to violently prevent the peaceful transfer of power, subvert the will of the people, and illegally keep that President in power,” he said, speaking moments after the upper chamber had voted to acquit Trump.
“There is nothing, nothing more un-American than that,” he continued. “There is nothing, nothing more antithetical to our democracy… insulting to the generations of Americans patriots who gave their lives to defend our form of government.”
Schumer went on to say the events of Jan. 6, would be Trump’s “final terrible legacy” and the 57 Republicans who voted to acquit would be forever linked to that legacy.
“Let it live on in infamy, a stain on Donald John Trump that can never, never be washed away,” he said.
Trump Reacts
Former President Trump just released a statement following the Senate vote to acquit him in his second impeachment trial.
Part of the statement read:
“It is a sad commentary on our times that one political party in America is given a free pass to denigrate the rule of law, defame law enforcement, cheer mobs, excuse rioters, and transform justice into a tool of political vengeance, and persecute, blacklist, cancel and suppress all people and viewpoints with whom or which they disagree. I always have, and always will, be a champion for the unwavering rule of law, the heroes of law enforcement, and the right of Americans to peacefully and honorably debate the issues of the day without malice and without hate.”
Trump also thanked his legal team and “all of the United States Senators and Members of Congress who stood proudly for the Constitution we all revere and for the sacred legal principles at the heart of our country,” in the statement.
Republican Senators Cassidy says he voted to convict Trump because “he is guilty”
Republican Senators. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana said he voted to convict former President Trump “because he is guilty.”
“Our Constitution and our country is more important than any one person. I voted to convict President Trump because he is guilty,” Cassidy said in a statement released after his vote.
Cassidy was one of seven Republican senators who joined Democrats in voting to convict Trump of inciting an insurrection at the Capitol on Jan. 6. Trump was ultimately acquitted as Democrats failed to get enough Republicans to join them in convicting Trump.
Here’s how Trump’s team reacted to his acquittal
A source on former President Trump’s team reacted to the acquittal, saying, “Wow, phew.”
The source expressed relief Democrats did not ultimately call witnesses because they had heard some Republicans were on the fence and they were waiting to hear from witnesses.
The source says they were expecting five or six Republicans to vote for impeachment, but the final vote that included seven Republican Senators voting to impeach was “unexpected and a shock.”
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell called the Jan. 6 Capitol attack a “disgrace.”
“They did this because they had been fed wild falsehoods by the most powerful man on Earth. Because he was angry. He had lost an election. Former President Trump’s actions preceded the riot were a disgraceful, disgraceful dereliction of duty,” McConnell said.
“There’s no question — none — that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day. No question about it. The people who stormed this building believed they were acting on the wishes and instructions of their President,” he added.
McConnell said there were “wild myths” about election fraud, but he said he defended Trump’s right to bring any complaints to the legal system.
“As I stood up and said clearly at that time, the election was settled. It was over. But that just really opened a new chapter of even wilder, wilder and more unfounded claims,” he said. “The leader of the free world cannot spend weeks thundering that shadowy forces are stealing our country and then feign surprise when people believe him and do reckless things.”
Trump “did not do his job” to end the Jan. 6 violence, McConnell said.
McConnell called the Trump defense team invoking Trump’s voters during the impeachment trial “as a human shield against criticism.”
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said if former President Trump was still in office, “I would have carefully considered whether the House managers proved their specific charge.”
“But after intense reflection, I believe the best constitutional reading shows that Article II Section 4 exhausts the set of persons who can legitimately be impeached, tried or convicted. It’s the president, it’s the vice president and civil officers. We have no power to convict and disqualify a former office holder who is now a private citizen,” McConnell said.
“Donald Trump’s no longer the president. Likewise, the provision states that officers subject to impeachment and conviction shall be removed from office if convicted,” he said, emphasizing “from office.”
McConnell did not count out the possibility of Trump being tried in civil or criminal courts.
“President Trump is still liable for everything he did while he was in office as an ordinary citizen unless the statute of limitations is run, still liable for everything he did while in office. Didn’t get away with anything yet. We have a criminal justice system in this country. We have civil litigation. And former presidents are not immune from being accountable by either one,” he said.
McConnell said the Senate’s decision to acquit Trump does not condone the violence on Jan. 6.
“It simply shows that senators did what the former President failed to do. We put our constitutional duty first,” he said.
As Senate majority leader last month, McConnell rebuffed calls by Senate Democrats for a speedy trial during Trump’s final days in office.
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