Senate Majority LeaderMitch McConnellcould barely contain a smile Wednesday as he gave thanks to those who had presided over PresidentDonald Trump‘s impeachment trial: first to Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, then the Senate pages and then his fellow Republican lawmakers who had, with one exception,all found Trump not-guilty of wrongdoingin the Ukraine scandal.
McConnell’s grin was a closing image of Trump’s impeachment and the face of a political victory for the president, who has insisted he did nothing wrong, despite the House Democrats’ months-long investigation otherwise, including testimony from Trump’s own government officials.
Democrats had impeached Trump on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, saying he withheld support of Ukraine’s government to pressure them to investigate his political rivals. On Wednesday, that prosecution ended in Trump’s acquittal.
“I will be making a public statement tomorrow at 12:00pm from the @WhiteHouse to discuss our Country’s VICTORY on the Impeachment Hoax!,” Trumpwrote on Twitterfollowing the Senate vote Wednesday that cleared him of any wrongdoing. (His childrenDonald Trump Jr.andIvanka Trumpwere similarly pleased.)
The Republican-controlled Senate voted 52-48 to acquit Trump on the allegation of abuse of power and 53-47 to acquit on that of obstruction of Congress.
President Donald Trump in January.Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images
The Democratic-led House of Representatives had impeached Trump in mid-December on those charges after an investigation found the president withheld some $400 million in military aid to Ukraine while pressuring the country to dig up dirt on Joe Biden, the former vice president who is one of the biggest rivals Trump has standing in the way of his 2020 re-election bid.
The impeachment and the ensuing trial in the Senate, which decided whether Congress would remove the president from office, carried out for more than four months.
“What I’m here to talk about today is the political impact of this,” Sen. McConnell told reporters in a news conference following the final Senate vote. “We’ve completed it, we’ve listened to the arguments, we voted, it’s in the rear-view mirror.”
Democratic Sen. Mazie Hirono, of Hawaii, warned the Senate on Wednesday ahead of its vote that in acquitting Trump, it too would be “complicit in his next scheme.”
In response to Trump’s tweet, some critics claimed his acquittal — which was ultimately decided without additional testimony from key witnesses, in a first for any presidential impeachment trial — did not mean exoneration.
In a blow to conservative unity, Republican Sen.Mitt Romney, of Utah,voted to convict Trumpon abuse of power. The onetime Republican presidential nominee said it was a difficult choice, but impossible otherwise.
“I believe that attempting to corrupt an election to maintain power is about as egregious an assault on the Constitution as can be made and for that reason, it is a high crime and misdemeanor,” Romney, 72, said in his Senate speech explaining his choice. “I have no choice under the oath that I took but to express that conclusion.”
“It was the courteous thing to do considering the alternative,” she explained afterward, calling it a “dirty speech,” while the White Housecriticizedthe gesture as disrespectful.
Trump had also ignored Pelosi’s offered handshake prior to his address.
Such acrimony is not soon to dissipate.
While Democrats now work over the next several months to rally behind a candidate to challenge Trump, some lawmakers said they weren’t ready to be done with Ukraine — even if impeachment was resolved.
Rep. Jerry Nadler, the House Judiciary Committee chairman and a leading lawmaker in the impeachment investigation, said this week he would “likely” subpoena former National Security Advisor John Bolton — a Trump official who recently came forward claiming to corroborate the Democrats’ case.
“I think it’s likely, yes,” Nadlertold reportersearly Wednesday when asked if he’d subpoena Bolton. “When you have a lawless president, you have to bring that to the fore, you have to spotlight that, you have to protect the Constitution despite the political consequences.”
source: people.com
