DAY 5: Senate Acquits Trump on Impeachment Charge of Inciting Capitol Riot in 57-43 Vote; Here are the Seven Republican Senators Who Voted to Convict Trump, and more from Day 5

By admin On Feb 13, 2021

Senate acquits Trump on impeachment charge of inciting Capitol riot in 57-43 vote:

The Senate acquitted former President Donald Trump on Saturday in his second impeachment trial, voting against holding Mr. Trump responsible for inciting the deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

Senators voted 57-43 in favor of conviction, 10 votes short of the two-thirds majority required by the Constitution in impeachment cases. But in a stronger bipartisan vote than Mr. Trump‘s first impeachment, seven Republicans voted with all 50 Democrats for conviction — Sens. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Richard Burr of North Carolina, Mitt Romney of Utah, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Ben Sasse of Nebraska and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania.

The acquittal halted, at least for now, Democrats’ effort to disqualify Mr. Trump from holding federal office again. Democrats, and some Republicans, are discussing a new resolution that would censure Mr. Trump with a simple majority vote.

In his closing argument, defense lawyer Michael van der Veen said Mr. Trump didn’t incite the violence when he spoke at a “Save America” rally near the White House just before the riot.

“The act of incitement never happened,” Mr. van der Veen said. “The violence was pre-planned and premeditated by a group of lawless actors who must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.” —>READ MORE HERE

Here are the seven Republican senators who voted to convict Trump:

The Senate voted to acquit former President Donald Trump on the “incitement of insurrection” impeachment charge, but seven Republicans joined with 50 Democrats in voting that he was guilty of the charge.

Here are the seven Republicans who voted to convict Trump:

North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr

> Statement: “The President promoted unfounded conspiracy theories to cast doubt on the integrity of a free and fair election because he did not like the results. As Congress met to certify the election results, the President directed his supporters to go to the Capitol to disrupt the lawful proceedings required by the Constitution. When the crowd became violent, the President used his office to first inflame the situation instead of immediately calling for an end to the assault. As I said on January 6th, the President bears responsibility for these tragic events. The evidence is compelling that President Trump is guilty of inciting an insurrection against a coequal branch of government and that the charge rises to the level of high Crimes and Misdemeanors. Therefore, I have voted to convict.”

> Election status: Retiring, not seeking reelection in 2022