The United States Senate has voted to acquit former president Donald Trump in his second impeachment trial on Saturday, clearing him for the charge of ‘incitement of insurrection’ in the deadly January 6 riots at the Capitol.
The five-day trial, in which Democratic impeachment managers argued that Trump betrayed his oath of office by urging his supporters to storm Congress in a bid to block certification of the November 3 presidential election, came to an end with a 57-43 majority of senators voting to convict but falling short of the two-thirds majority required.
The impeachment trial vote was as bipartisan as there ever could be, with seven Republicans breaking ranks to join all 50 Democrats in seeking a conviction, a worry for a former president who may yet seek to run for office again.
But the Senate ultimately was not willing to punish Trump.
In Trump’s historic second impeachment trial, the senators for the first time ever were not only jurors but witnesses to the assault at the heart of the charge against Trump.
Democrats argued that Trump’s behaviour was an “open and shut” example of an impeachable offence, saying that as president he repeated the falsehood that the election was stolen, then whipped up supporters to attack Congress and stop the certification of the vote.
“He summoned his supporters to Washington, on the Ellipse, whipped them into a frenzy, and directed them at the Capitol,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said after the vote.
The defense team swatted such evidence away, insisting the Senate had no constitutional jurisdiction to try a former president. Most Republican senators agreed.
Trump, who has been holed up in his Florida club since leaving the office on January 20, issued a statement in which he expressed thanks for the verdict, and called the proceedings “yet another phase of the greatest witch hunt in the history of our country.”
The 74-year old Republican also hinted at a possible political future, and at “continuing our incredible journey together to achieve American greatness for all of our people.”
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“We have so much work ahead of us, and soon we will emerge with a vision for a bright, radiant, and limitless American future,” Trump said.
“It is a sad commentary on the 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,” he said.
“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 honourably debate the issues of the day without malice and without hate,” Trump added.
Finally, thanking his attorneys, the former president said, “I want to first thank my team of dedicated lawyers and others for their tireless work upholding justice and defending truth. My deepest thanks as well to 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.”
