WASHINGTON >> Donald Trump was acquitted today for inciting the terrible attack on the U.S. Capitol, concluding a historic impeachment trial that saved him from the first conviction of a U.S. president, but exposed the fragility of America’s democratic traditions and left a nation divided for coming to accept the violence unleashed by his defeated presidency.
Almost a month since the January 6 deadly uproar that shocked the world, the Senate gathered for a rare weekend session to deliver its verdict, voting while armed National Guard troops remained at their posts outside the iconic building.
>> RELATED: Republican Party Mitch McConnell votes to absolve Trump and then condemns him for attacking the U.S. Capitol and 7 Republicans vote to condemn Trump in second impeachment trial
The quick trial, the first by a former president of the nation, showed how the invaders came dangerously close to destroying the nation’s deep tradition of peaceful transfer of presidential power after Trump refused to grant the election. Gathering outside the White House, he unleashed a crowd of supporters to “fight like hell” for him on Capitol Hill, once Congress certified Democratic Joe Biden’s victory. While hundreds of people stormed the building, some with tactical gear engaged in bloody fighting with the police, lawmakers fled to save their lives. Five people died.
The verdict, in a 57-43 vote, is almost certain to influence not only the political future of the former president, but also the senators who have sworn to do impartial justice as jurors. Seven Republicans joined all Democrats to condemn it, but it was nowhere near the required two-thirds limit.
Democrats sens. Mazie Hirono and Brian Schatz of Hawaii voted today to condemn Trump for inciting insurrection.
The Chamber’s managers presented their case. Donald Trump incited a violent uprising and sent a murderous mob to besiege the United States Capitol. We were all there. Everyone saw and heard what happened. Sad and shameful that only 7 Republican Senators had the courage to do the right thing.
– Senator Mazie Hirono (@maziehirono) February 13, 2021
The outcome after the revolt leaves the nation’s painful divisions over the type of Trump policy that led to the most violent domestic attack on one of America’s three branches of government unsolved.
“Senators, we are in a dialogue with history, a conversation with our past, with a hope for our future,” said Congresswoman Madeleine Dean, D-Pa .., one of the Chamber’s promoters in the closing arguments.
“What we do here, what is being asked of each of us here at this moment will be remembered.”
Trump, unrepentant, welcomed his second acquittal of impeachment and said his movement “has just begun”. He called the trial “another phase of the largest witch hunt in the history of our country”.
Although he was acquitted of the sole charge of inciting insurrection, he was easily the largest number of senators to vote to find a president of his own party guilty of an impeachment charge of serious crimes and misdemeanors.
>> RELATED: Trump remains the dominant force in the Republican Party after acquittal in the second impeachment trial
The votes to plead Trump’s guilt 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 and Patrick Toomey of Pennsylvania.
Even after voting for absolution, Republican leader Mitch McConnell condemned the former president as ‘practically and morally responsible’ for the insurrection. Trump could not be convicted because he was out of office, McConnell said.
The trial had been momentarily confused when senators on Saturday suddenly wanted to consider possible witnesses, particularly in relation to Trump’s actions as the crowd revolted. Prolonged procedures could have been especially damaging to Biden’s new presidency, significantly delaying his emerging legislative agenda. Coming amid the COVID-19 crisis, the Biden White House is trying to hasten relief from the pandemic in Congress.
Biden barely gave his opinion on the proceedings and was spending the weekend with his family at the presidential retreat in Camp David, Maryland.
The nearly week-long trial delivered a grim and graphic narrative of the riot and its aftermath in ways that senators, many of whom fled for their own safety that day, acknowledge that they are still facing.
House prosecutors argued that Trump was the “chief instigator” who fueled a months-long campaign and an orchestrated pattern of violent rhetoric and false claims they called the “big lie” that sparked the crowd. Five people died, including a rowdy shot and a policeman.
Trump’s lawyers argued that Trump’s words were not intended to incite violence and that impeachment is nothing more than a “witch hunt” designed to prevent him from serving in office again.
The senators, announcing their votes from their desks in the very chamber that the crowd had looted, were not only jurors, but also witnesses. Just watching the graphic videos – protesters shouting menacingly by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Mike Pence, who was presiding over the January certification count – senators said they began to understand how dangerously close the country came to chaos.
Many senators kept their votes held until the final moments on Saturday, especially Republicans representing states where the former president remains popular. Most of them ended up voting for absolution, doubting whether Trump was fully responsible or whether impeachment is the appropriate response.
“Just look at what Republicans were forced to defend,” said Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer. “See what the Republicans chose to forgive.”
Second Republican Senator John Thune of South Dakota later acknowledged: “It is an uncomfortable vote. I don’t think there has been a good result for anyone ”.
In the closing arguments, the main defense lawyer, Michael van der Veen, resorted to the procedural argument that Republican senators adopted in their own reasoning for the case what he said was a “false impeachment trial show”.
“Sir. Trump is innocent of the charges against him,” said Michael van der Veen. “The act of incitement never happened.”
The House accused Trump on the sole charge of inciting insurrection a week after the riot, the most bipartisan vote in a presidential impeachment.
The delay on Saturday came when senators wanted to hear evidence about Trump’s actions during the turmoil, after prosecutors said he did nothing to stop him.
Overnight news focused on Washington State Representative Jaime Herrera Beutler, who said in a statement on Friday that Trump rejected the call by Republican House leader Kevin McCarthy to cancel the protesters.
Several Republican senators voted to consider witnesses. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina changed her vote to join them in the 55-45 vote.
But in the face of a protracted trial with the defense prepared to summon many more witnesses, the situation was resolved when Herrera Beutler’s statement on the summons was read aloud for senators to consider as evidence. As part of the deal, Democrats abandoned the planned deposition and Republicans abandoned the threat to call their own witnesses.
Impeachment trials are rare, senators meeting as impeachment court over a president just four times in the country’s history, for Andrew Johnson, Bill Clinton and now twice for Trump, the only one to be charged twice.
Unlike Trump’s impeachment trial in Ukraine’s case last year, a complicated charge of corruption and obstruction in his attempts to get the foreign ally to dig up rival Biden’s dirt in the campaign, it brought an emotional blow displayed in graphic videos of the siege that revealed the unexpected vulnerability of the democratic system.
At the same time, this year’s trial brought similar warnings from prosecutors alleging to senators that Trump should be held responsible because he has repeatedly shown that he has no limits. If nothing is done, he will further test the norms of civic behavior, even now that he is out of office and still commands loyal supporters.
“This trial is ultimately not about Donald Trump,” said senior prosecutor, Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md. “This judgment is about who we are.”
Your browser does not support iframe HTML tag.
Try to view this in a modern browser like Chrome, Safari, Firefox or Internet Explorer 9 or later.