Former President Donald Trump on Saturday, after the Senate acquitted him of impeachment charges against him, prompted a return to the political arena in his post-presidency – but he may still face efforts to punish him for the January 6 attack. Capitol for its supporters.
The Senate failed to reach the 67-vote limit to condemn Trump for inciting an insurrection, as accused in the House’s impeachment article. There were 57 votes to condemn and 43 “innocent” votes.
“Our historic, patriotic and beautiful movement for Make America Great Again has just begun,” Trump said in a statement after the vote. “In the coming months, I have a lot to share with you and I look forward to continuing our incredible journey together to achieve American greatness for all of our people.”
But in the coming weeks and months, Trump may also face continued efforts to hold him accountable for allegedly inspiring a crowd of his followers to invade the United States Capitol during the joint January 6 session to certify the results of the presidential election. Protesters disfigured the building and forced hundreds of lawmakers and former Vice President Mike Pence to hide while shouting “hang Mike Pence”, among other things.
ARCHIVE – In the archive photo of this Wednesday, January 6, 2021, supporters of President Donald Trump climb the western wall of the United States Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo / Jose Luis Magana)
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“There is no doubt … that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for causing the day’s events,” said Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., After the Senate vote that acquitted Trump. McConnell voted that Trump was not to blame. But he said his vote was not a reflection of Trump’s actions and was instead an expression of his opinion that the Senate had no authority to conduct an impeachment trial for ordinary people.
McConnell added that the attack “was a predictable consequence of the growing spate of false statements, conspiracy theories and reckless hyperbole that the defeated president shouted into the largest megaphone on planet Earth”.
“President Trump is still responsible for everything he did during his term,” continued McConnell. “He hasn’t gotten away with anything yet. We have a criminal justice system in this country. We have civil lawsuits.”
Indeed, there is an open criminal investigation in Georgia over Trump’s call to Georgia’s Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, pressuring him to “find” enough votes to deflect the outcome of President Biden’s Georgia presidential election. .
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to supporters of The Ellipse, near the White House, on January 6, 2021, in Washington, DC.
((Photo by Brendan Smialowski / AFP) (Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI / AFP via Getty Images))
And some Democrats are also pushing for a separate way to bar Trump from office in the future, now that the impeachment has failed.
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“I think we need to spend months and months digging up all the evidence that can be obtained through a 9/11 commission,” said Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., On ABC’s “This Week” program on Sunday . “And several Republicans have already spoken out and said that there should be more accountability, whether through a criminal trial or some other way of being prevented from taking office.”
Coons appeared to be alluding to the 14th Amendment, which some Democrats say could be used to prevent Trump from running for office again. The amendment was passed in the wake of the Civil War and was intended to prevent former US office holders who defected to the Confederation from taking office in the US government again.
He forbids people “who, having taken an earlier oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States … have been involved in insurrection or rebellion against them, or have given help or comfort to their enemies.” The amendment gives Congress the power “through appropriate legislation” to enforce this.
Some Democrats, therefore, interpret this as a way to ban Trump from office without clearing the 67-vote barrier of an impeachment conviction.
Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., was asked about the use of the 14th Amendment last week and refused to discard it.
Trump’s lawyer, Michael van der Veen, ruled out the possibility that Trump could face any liability in the future in an interview with CBS News, saying that McConnell’s comments specifically were just bragging.
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“No, this is just political rhetoric. And I was hopeful that something would come out of it and that political rhetoric would stop Washington DC But I think it apparently didn’t,” he said. “I’m not surprised to hear a politician say anything, no.”
Many Republicans in recent weeks have also suggested passing a censorship resolution against Trump – legislation that would simply express Congressional sentiment that what Trump did was bad.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Rejected the idea at a press conference on Saturday, but giving Republicans a chance to say they condemned the former president without actually taking a tough vote with consequences.
“Censorship is a slap in the face to the Constitution. It gives, it leaves everyone out of danger. It leaves everyone out of danger,” she said. “Will all of these cowardly senators who couldn’t face what the president did and what was at stake for our country now have a chance to pat his wrist? We blame people for using stationery for the wrong end. We do not blame people for inciting the uprising that kills people on the Capitol. “
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Meanwhile, members of both parties support a 9/11 style commission to investigate what led to the 6 January attack. This commission would not necessarily have the power to punish the former president or anyone else. But it would, according to Coons in “This Week,” “reveal how responsible and abject a violator of his constitutional oath President Trump really was.”
Senator Chris Coons, D-Del., Speaks as the Senate Judiciary Committee hears legal experts on the last day of the confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, October 15 2020. (AP Photo / J. Scott Applewhite)
Senator Lindsey Graham, RS.C., on “Fox News Sunday” said a committee would help clarify how there was so little security on Capitol Hill on January 6, despite what has apparently been repeated warnings that Congress could be in danger .
“Did Nancy Pelosi know on January 5 that there was a threat to the Capitol? What did President Trump do after the attack? We need a 9/11 commission to find out what happened to make sure it never happens again,” he said. he. “And I want to make sure that the Capitol’s footprint can be better defended next time, so I want to see what Pelosi knew when she learned that what President Trump did after the attack and on the Senate side was the leadership of Senate informed of a threat. “
He added: “I would like to know if the Capitol Police informed the House’s sergeant in arms and the Senate’s sergeant in arms the day before the attack that they needed more troops, so I want to take a look at all of this.”
But Graham also explicitly rejected the idea that Trump could face more repercussions for his actions, which included months of false allegations that he won the presidential election before his January 6 speech, which he said ahead of time would be “wild” .
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During the speech, Trump told supporters to march “peacefully and patriotically” towards the Capitol. Supporters point to this comment as one reason why Trump was not responsible for looting Capitol Hill. But those who supported his impeachment said the comment did not go over the balance of his rhetoric after the election, which Graham himself said on Sunday was “overblown”.
Graham, however, did not go as far as McConnell in condemning Trump wholesale and alluding to possible criminal charges against the former president.
“Now I think Senator McConnell’s speech took a weight off his chest, obviously, but unfortunately he put a weight on Republicans’ backs,” Graham said of McConnell’s speech. “I imagine if you’re a Republican running in Arizona, Georgia or New Hampshire, where we have a chance to retake the Senate, they may be playing Senator McConnell’s speech and asking about it as a candidate. And I wonder if you’re a Republican incumbent, they’re going to be people asking ‘will you support Senator McConnell in the future?’
Graham added, “I think his speech is an isolated case in terms of how Republicans feel about all of this.”
Fox News’ Kelly Phares contributed to this report.