Senate Acquits Former President Trump
January 6, 2021, Washington, DC, USA: Supporters of President Donald Trump breach the U.S. Capitol as election results are to be certified in Washington DC on January 6, 2021. (Credit Image: © Carol Guzy/ZUMA Wire)
The Senate voted 57-43 to acquit former President Trump on charges of incitement of insurrection on Saturday. All 50 Democrats and seven Republican Senators voted to convict, including Sens. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Lisa Murkowski (R-Ala.), and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.)
Democrats argued over the last five days that former President Trump incited an insurrection at the Capitol building on Jan. 6 and that failure to impeach him would set a dangerous precedent for the future.
Rep. Joe Neguse (D-Colo.) gave a fiery testimony attempting to convince his Republican colleagues in the Senate to convict the 45th President. Neguse served as one of nine managers of the impeachment trial.
convict former President Trump of inciting insurrection.
“We humbly — humbly — ask for you to convict President Trump for the crime which he is overwhelmingly guilty of. Because if you don’t — if we pretend this didn’t happen, or worse, if we let it go unanswered — who’s to say it won’t happen again?”
Trump’s legal defense and many Republicans in Congress disagree and claim that Trump did not incite any violence. Some senators said that impeaching a private citizen is unconstitutional and doing so could warrant unchecked power in the future.
His lawyer, Michael van der Veen, claimed there was no adequate investigation and that President Trump was unaware that former Vice President Mike Pence was in immediate danger.
“No matter how truly horrifying the footage we see of the conduct of the rioters… that does not change the fact that Mr. Trump is innocent of the charges against him,” van der Veen said.
The Senate voted 55-45 to have witnesses on trial, but both sides agreed not to delay the process any further after Republicans threatened to call upon their own witnesses.
