Trump acquitted of incitement charge
The U.S. Senate acquitted former U.S. President Donald Trump of incitement of insurrection, as a week-long impeachment trial concluded on Saturday.
A majority of senators voted 57-43 on the incitement charge, but that fell short of the supermajority needed to convict. Seven Republican senators joined the Democratic majority in voting to convict the former president. They 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.
The trial centered around Trump’s role in the events of Jan. 6, when a mob of the president’s supporters invaded the U.S. Capitol, injuring multiple police officers. A total of five people died as a result of the siege, including a Capitol Police officer. Two other officers committed suicide in the weeks since. Lawmakers were evacuated from Congressional chambers as the rioters, enraged by the president’s oft-repeated false claim of a stolen election, delayed the counting of the electoral votes which would eventually confirm now-President Joe Biden’s election victory. Some of the rioters walked through the hallways intent on finding Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and then-Vice President Mike Pence — with some of the mob calling for his hanging.
The House impeachment managers argued that a speech Trump gave on Jan. 6, combined with his conduct in the weeks prior, incited the rioters to march to the Capitol and attempt to violently overtake it. Managers also used video footage from that day, as well as tweets and statements from the former president, to build their case. Trump’s defense attorneys, however, countered that the speech did not amount to incitement and that the impeachment was a continued political “witch hunt” against Trump. Some Republicans voted to acquit because they assert the Constitution doesn’t provide for the impeachment of a former president — a stance the House Managers opposed, saying there is precedent for former officials to be impeached.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who voted to acquit, started his remarks after the vote by saying the president, a fellow Republican, undoubtedly fueled the fearsome events of Jan. 6.
“The people who stormed this building believed they were acting on the wishes and instructions of their president, and having that belief was a foreseeable consequence of the growing crescendo of false statements, conspiracy theories and reckless hyperbole which the defeated president kept shouting into the largest megaphone on planet Earth,” McConnell said.
However, McConnell also asserted that impeachment does not apply to officials who have left office — one of his main reasons for supporting acquittal.
But Sen. Collins, of Maine, saw it differently. In her statement after the vote, Collins said Trump encouraged the mob in the hope of preventing a peaceful transfer of power — as demonstrated by his hours-long delay in calling off the riot.
“This impeachment trial is not about any single word uttered by President Trump on Jan. 6, 2021,” Collins said. “It is instead about President Trump’s failure to obey the oath he swore on Jan. 20, 2017. His actions to interfere with the peaceful transfer of power — the hallmark of our Constitution and our American democracy — were an abuse of power and constitute grounds for conviction.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer decried the widely-expected acquittal. He remarked, “Jan. 6 would not have happened, but for the actions of Donald Trump.”
Saturday marked the culmination of an historic impeachment trial, which stemmed from the first time a president had been impeached twice.
Also during this week, House committees have reportedly been marking up President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief proposal, in an effort to advance that bill. The House hopes to complete any changes and pass the bill before the end of the month, CNBC reported Friday. It would then move to the Senate.
— Gareth Henderson
