Donald Trump acquitted again: 57 to 43 but they needed 67 to convict but 7 Republicans voted for conviction (the most in any impeachment of a president so far)
begin quote from:https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2021/02/13/trump-acquittal-looms-as-impeachment-trial-heads-to-finale-with-no-sign-of-mass-gop-defections/
Trump acquitted on 57-43 vote, with seven Republicans voting to convict for incitement of insurrection
McConnell says House prosecutors proved Trump incited attack on Capitol, though he voted to acquit because Trump is no longer in office.
9:10 AM on Feb 13, 2021 CST — Updated at 5:12 PM on Feb 13, 2021 CST
Updated at 5:10 p.m. with additional reaction.
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump’s historic second impeachment trial ended Saturday with acquittal on a 57-43 vote, with seven Republicans and all Democrats voting that the former president incited insurrection.
The Republicans who voted to convict were Sens. Richard Burr of North Carolina, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mitt Romney of Utah, Ben Sasse of Nebraska and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania.
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One year and one week ago, at Trump’s first trial, Romney had been the only Republican voting to convict and remove him from office on a charge of abuse of power.
The Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, said he based his vote to acquit on the view that Trump is “constitutionally ineligible” for impeachment because he is no longer president. But in a remarkable floor speech after the verdict, McConnell said it’s likely he would have voted differently if Trump had still been in office.
“President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day. No question about it,” McConnell said, accusing Trump of peddling a “wild myth” that he had won the election and engaging in “unconscionable” behavior before and during the Jan. 6 attack.
“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,” he said.
“They let him off on a technicality,” said Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, one of the nine impeachment managers, taking solace in McConnell’s acknowledgement “that we overwhelmingly proved our case that, substantively, Donald Trump is guilty of inciting an insurrection.”
Trump, who refused to testify, expressed defiance from his South Florida resort.
“Our historic, patriotic and beautiful movement to Make America Great Again has only just begun,” he said after the verdict, complaining that Democrats had gotten “a free pass to denigrate the rule of law, defame law enforcement, cheer mobs … and persecute, blacklist, cancel and suppress” anyone they disagree with, while he had to endure “yet another phase of the greatest witch hunt in the history of our country.”
Throughout the trial, House managers had faced dim prospects of prying loose the 17 Republicans needed to convict Trump for unleashing a violent mob in order to stop Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s victory.
Defense attorney Michael van der Veen blamed the Jan. 6 attack on “fringe left and right groups,” repeating a favorite Trump claim, debunked by the FBI and other authorities, that antifa and other leftists had infiltrated the mob and acted as provocateurs.
“He was not trying to foment an insurrection,” van der Veen said. “At no point did you hear anything that could ever possibly be construed as Mr. Trump encouraging or sanctioning insurrection.”
After the verdict, gloating, he told reporters that “we slammed them down on the mat and won this case.”
The prosecution saw the case differently.
“None of this would have happened without the president,” Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., the lead House manager, told senators sitting in judgment in a chamber that had been overrun by pro-Trump militants. “This country and the world know who Donald Trump is. This trial is about who we are. This is about whether our country demands a peaceful, nonviolent transfer of power.”
The House impeached Trump one week after the riot, and two weeks before his term expired.
For Democrats, part of the goal was to draw a bright line between acceptable and intolerable presidential conduct. Another was to put Republicans on the spot.
“Look at what Republicans have been forced to defend. Look at what Republicans have chosen to forgive. … The most despicable act that any president has ever committed, and the majority of Republicans cannot summon the courage or the morality to condemn it,” Schumer said on the Senate floor moments after the verdict. “Remember how close our democracy came to ruin.”
Few Republicans had shown any inclination to hold Trump accountable for the insurrection. Six voted with Democrats on Tuesday to set aside an objection that an ex-president is no longer subject to their jurisdiction.
House managers pressed ahead, appealing to a sense of shame and patriotic duty in hopes of overcoming party loyalty and fears of Trump’s wrath and backlash from his ardent base.
But even after his election defeat, Trump casts a long shadow over the GOP.
“You’ll be hearing a lot more from him in the coming days,” spokesman Jason Miller told reporters at the Capitol after the reading Trump’s statement.
Cornyn said it would set a dangerous precedent to impeach a former president and offered one of McConnell’s arguments — that a former president could be subjected to investigation and prosecution for things he did while in office.
Cruz called the charge “a rushed act of partisan retribution.”
Gilberto Hinojosa, chairman of the Texas Democratic Party, called the Texas senators “traitors to our country’s democracy.”
Trump’s response: “Well, Kevin, I guess these people are more upset about the election than you are.”
McConnell noted that with the riot underway, “even with police officers bleeding and broken glass covering the Capitol floor,” Trump kept repeating lies about the election.
One person provoked the riot, he said. “Just one.”
“Mitch McConnell clearly feels that Donald Trump remains a huge problem for the Republican Party even if he has been disgraced in the eyes of the country,” Raskin said afterward.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi blasted McConnell for only now affirming the case against Trump, after refusing to bring the Senate back into session before Jan. 20, when Republicans lost control of the Senate, for Trump to stand trial while he was still president.
“It was a very disingenuous speech,” she said.
McConnell announced his intention to vote for acquittal shortly before Saturday’s session began. His wife, Elaine Chao, was one of the Trump Cabinet members who resigned in protest after the riot.
Todd J. Gillman. Todd became Washington Bureau Chief in 2009 and has covered East Texas, Dallas City Hall and politics since joining The News in 1989. He's been elected three times to the White House Correspondents’ Association board, with a term ending in 2023. Todd has a Master in Public Policy from Harvard and a BA from Johns Hopkins in international studies.
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