Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Trump acquitted in impeachment trial; 7 GOP Senators vote with Democrats to convict

Feb. 13, 2021, 2:51 PM CST
By Dareh Gregorian

The Senate on Saturday voted to acquit former President Donald Trump on a charge of incitement of insurrection largely along party lines, bringing an end to the fourth impeachment trial in U.S. history and the second for Trump.

Only 7 Republicans voted to convict Trump for allegedly inciting the deadly Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol, when a mob of pro-Trump supporters tried to disrupt the electoral vote count formalizing Joe Biden's election win before a joint session of Congress. The final vote was 57 to 43, far short of the 67 votes needed to secure a conviction.

Republican Sens. Richard Burr of North Carolina, Susan Collins of Maine, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mitt Romney of Utah, Ben Sasse of Nebraska and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania all voted guilty.

The vote means the Senate cannot bar Trump from holding future federal offices.

With control of the Senate split 50-50, the House managers always had an uphill battle when it came to convincing enough Republicans to cross party lines and convict a former president who is still very popular with a large part of the GOP base.

In his closing argument, House manager Joe Neguse, D-Colo., argued, "The stakes could not be higher. Because the cold, hard truth is that what happened on January 6 can happen again. I fear, like many of you do, that the violence we saw on that terrible day may be just the beginning."

Lead impeachment manager Jamie Raskin, D-Md., urged the senators to think of the future.

"Senators, this trial, in the final analysis, is not about Donald Trump. The country and the world know who Donald Trump is. This trial is about who we are, who we are," Raskin said.

Trump lawyer Michael van der Veen, meanwhile, insisted his client did nothing wrong and maintained he was the victim of vengeful Democrats and a biased news media. He called the impeachment proceedings a "charade from beginning to end."

The managers' task became more difficult Saturday when Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell announced in an email to his colleagues that he would vote to acquit since Trump was already out of office.

"While a close call, I am persuaded that impeachments are a tool primarily of removal and we therefore lack jurisdiction," the influential Kentucky Republican wrote in the email, which was obtained by NBC News.

McConnell, who'd rebuffed Democratic efforts to start the trial while Trump was still in office, had condemned Trump's conduct after the riot and said he'd keep an open mind about voting to convict — something he'd ruled out entirely during Trump's first impeachment trial last year.

McConnell suggested in the email that Trump could still face other penalties.

"The Constitution makes perfectly clear that Presidential criminal misconduct while in office can be prosecuted after the President has left office, which in my view alleviates the otherwise troubling 'January exception' argument raised by the House," he wrote.

Opening arguments began on Wednesday, with House managers blaming the riot on Trump's months-long campaign to cast doubt on the 2020 election, and his repeated assertions that the only way he would lose was if the election was "stolen." They focused on his fiery speech on the morning of the Jan. 6 riot, where he urged his supporters to "fight like hell" — and his refusal to take action after they did.

Trump declined a request from managers to testify at the trial, and refused to even submit a statement for it, facts Raskin urged senators to keep in mind on Saturday.

"I ask any of you, if you were charged with inciting violent insurrection against our country, and you're falsely accused, would you come and testify? I know I would," Raskin said.

The trial was the fourth of an impeached president. No president has ever been convicted.

MAGAA!

What did we pay for that dog and pony show?

Don’t blow a gasket . Easy fella

We've got work to do. Every one of those jackasses that voted to convict are traitors and should be tried for treason.

They interrupted Pebble Beach for this stupid fugking schit.

All they kept saying was that at no time did Trump's defense team state that there was election fraud. LOL

Methinks they doth protest too much.

Pathetic.

Wonder how much crap is going to burn tonight?

Hope it works out that way!

Yep!!!

The Talking Heads at ABC are having a mental midget meltdown.

“Trump Bad” “We’re Afraid”

A trial that should have never happened!

Trump’s attorney’s destroyed their illegal impeachment in his closing arguments.

All this after they "won."

Fugking pathetic.

Undisputed impeachment champion.

He also made a mockery of their evidence yesterday.

lol

For real. Impeached twice. Acquitted twice.

Well, if you idiots keep it up it is just the beginning.

Mitt is no more GOP than I am DEM.

Put that flaming pile of dog schit Mitt Romney on the top of the list !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fact.