WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Donald Trump is welcoming his second impeachment acquittal and says his movement “has only just begun.”
Trump in a lengthy statement is thanking his attorneys and his defenders in the House and Senate, who he said “stood proudly for the Constitution we all revere and for the sacred legal principles at the heart of our country.”
He is slamming the trial as “yet another phase of the greatest witch hunt in the history of our Country.” And he is telling his supporters that, “Our historic, patriotic and beautiful movement to Make America Great Again has only just begun” and that he will have more to share with them in the months ahead.
While Trump was acquitted by the Senate, seven Republicans voted to convict him, making it the most bipartisan vote in the history of presidential impeachments.
The Senate met in a rare weekend session to wrap up Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial. An unexpected morning vote in favor of hearing witnesses threw the trial into confusion, but both sides ultimately reached a deal that allowed the trial to proceed with no witness testimony. The trial ended with closing arguments, followed by the vote on whether the former president incited the Jan. 6 siege on the Capitol.
The Senate has acquitted Donald Trump of inciting the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, bringing his trial to a close and giving the former president a historic second victory in the court of impeachment.
Trump is the first president to be impeached twice, and he is also now twice acquitted as the majority of Republicans defended his actions. The Senate voted 57-43 that Trump is “not guilty” of incitement. Two thirds of the Senate, or 67 votes, was needed for conviction.
House Democrats argued that Trump caused the violent attack by repeating for months the false claims that the election was stolen from him, and then calling on his supporters to “fight like hell” just before they laid siege to the Capitol. Democrats argued that Trump had “obvious intent” as he egged on supporters they said were primed for violence.
Trump’s lawyers argued that the trial was brought on by Democrats’ “hatred” of Trump and that it was unconstitutional because he had left office. They said the rioters acted on their own accord, despite Trump’s words. And they argued that Trump was protected by freedom of speech and to convict him for something he said would set a dangerous precedent.
The House impeached Trump before he left office for “incitement of insurrection” after the violent mob broke into the Capitol, destroyed property and hunted for lawmakers as they counted the presidential electoral votes. Five people died.
If Trump had been convicted, the Senate would have taken a second vote on whether to ban him from running for office again. Only two other presidents, Bill Clinton in 1999 and Andrew Johnson in 1868, have been impeached. Both were also acquitted.
Seven Republicans have voted to convict former President Donald Trump at his Senate impeachment trial.
Though the chamber voted to acquit him Saturday, it was easily the largest number of lawmakers to ever vote to find a president of their own party guilty at impeachment proceedings.
Voting to find Trump guilty were GOP 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, Patrick Toomey of Pennsylvania.
Romney’s “guilty” vote at Trump’s initial impeachment trial last February had made him the first senator to ever vote to convict a president of the same party.
