Senate Votes To Acquit Trump In Second Impeachment Trial

WASHINGTON, DC — The Senate on Saturday voted to acquit former President Donald Trump of inciting the Jan. 6 violent insurrection against the U.S. Capitol. The vote brings to a close the nearly weeklong trial that delivered a somber and graphic narrative of the riot that left five people dead.

Trump’s acquittal came following a 57-43 vote, with 57 voting to convict. Only seven Republicans crossed party lines by joining Democrats in favor of conviction.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell was not among them. The GOP leader voted to acquit Trump after indicating earlier in the day that he planned to do so, according to an Associated Press report.

Republicans who voted in favor of conviction included Sens. Mitt Romney of Utah, Ben Sasse of Nebraska, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, Richard Burr of North Carolina, and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana.

In a chamber split 50-50 between the parties, 17 Republicans were needed to join Democrats in voting to convict Trump.

Trump is the only president to be impeached twice and the first to face trial charges after leaving office. Trump was acquitted on a single charge, incitement of insurrection.

Minutes after voting to acquit Trump, McConnell addressed the Senate, saying there is still “no question” that Trump was “practically and morally responsible for provoking” the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol.

McConnell said he could not vote to convict Trump because he is “constitutionally not eligible for conviction” because he is no longer president.

Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who addressed the Senate prior to McConnell, said Jan. 6 will live as a “day of infamy” in American history, and the vote to acquit Trump “will live as a vote of infamy in the history of the United States Senate."

Schumer applauded the Republicans who voted to convict Trump, calling the day of the riot the “final, terrible legacy” of Trump and that the stain of his actions will never be “washed away.”

House Democrats wrapped up their impeachment case against Trump on Saturday after giving up on a last-minute plan to call witnesses, a decision that could have significantly prolonged the trial and delayed a vote on whether the former president incited the deadly insurrection.

An unexpected vote in favor of hearing witnesses threw the trial into confusion just as it was on the verge of concluding. Both sides, however, were able to reach a deal to instead enter into the record a statement from Republican House lawmaker Jaime Herrera Beutler of Washington about a heated phone call on the day of the riot between Trump and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. Democrats argued the call established Trump’s indifference to the violence.

The outcome of the raw and emotional proceedings reflects a country divided over the former president and the future of his brand of politics. The verdict could influence not only Trump’s political future but that of the senators sworn to deliver impartial justice as jurors.

“What’s important about this trial is that it’s really aimed to some extent at Donald Trump, but it’s more aimed at some president we don’t even know 20 years from now,” Sen. Angus King, the independent from Maine, told The AP.

Throughout the weeklong trial, House prosecutors have argued that Trump's rallying cry to go to the Capitol and “fight like hell” for his presidency as Congress was convening to certify Biden’s election victory was part of an orchestrated pattern of violent rhetoric and false claims that unleashed the mob.

Five people died, including a rioter who was shot and a police officer.

Trump's lawyers countered in just three hours Friday, arguing that Trump's words were not intended to incite violence and that impeachment is nothing but a “witch hunt” designed to prevent him from serving in office again.

Only by watching the graphic videos — rioters calling out menacingly for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Mike Pence, who was presiding over the vote tally — did senators say they began to understand just how perilously close the country came to chaos. Hundreds of rioters stormed into the building, taking over the Senate. Some engaged in hand-to-hand, bloody combat with police.

The Associated Press contributed to this report