Former President Trump has been acquitted in an unprecedented second indictment on charges of inciting an uprising for the January 6 Capitol riots, making him the first and only president to be charged and acquitted twice in history.
A majority of senators convicted Trump on Saturday in a 57-43 vote, but that number was not the largest majority needed to convict the president. If Trump had been convicted, the Senate would have prevented the 45th president from holding a federal office again.
The seven GOP senators who, along with all Democrats, sought to convict Trump were: 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 Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania.
Senator Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., Who presided over the trial, announced that the vote is not below the two-thirds majority need and therefore Trump is ‘acquitted of the charge’.
The acquittal means that from now on, in 2024, Trump can open the door for another bid in the White House, although senators have hinted that they could still withhold him from office in a separate 14th Amendment.
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Trump praised the victory, thanked his supporters and promised that he would soon appear with a “vision for a bright, radiant and unlimited American future.”
The former president, who has been largely silent since his accusation, also targeted his opponents.
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“This was another phase of the largest witch hunt in the history of our country,” Trump said in a statement. “No president has ever experienced anything like this, and it continues because our opponents cannot forget the nearly 75 million people, the highest number ever for a sitting president, who voted for us a few short months ago. “
Trump’s second indictment lasted just five days of arguments, making it the shortest in presidential history. The previous record was held by Trump in 2020 when his trial related to the invitation of foreign interference in the 21-day election.
The trial surrounded the riot on January 6 when supporters of the Trump trump stormed the Capitol, beat police officers, chanted “Hang Mike Pence” and forced lawmakers to take shelter. The chaos temporarily halted the Congress of President Biden’s Electoral College.
House accusation officials accused Trump of inciting the uprising by spreading a “big lie”, the election was stolen from him, and on January 6 summoned his supporters to Washington, saying they “must fight like hell” and then refuses to eliminate the attack once the mob has taken over the Capitol by force.
“He named the date. He called the time. He brought them here, and now he has to pay the price,” Chief Accusation Manager Jamie Raskin, D-Md., Said in his closing remarks to the Senate.
Trump’s legal team denounces the proceedings as an unconstitutional ‘sham accusation’ against a private citizen, driven by the Democrats’ ‘hatred’ of Trump and the desire to silence a political opponent.
Trump advocates also argued that the former president’s political speech was protected by the first amendment, and his words on January 6 to his supporters to “fight like hell” were not meant literally. To rush home that point during the trial, Trump’s defense played an 11-minute video of almost every Democrat in the room with the words “fight” in their previous speeches and interviews.
In this image from the video, the indictment manager of the House, Jamie Raskin, D-Md., Speaks during the second indictment of former President Donald Trump in the Senate in the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Thursday, February 11, 2021. (Senate Television via AP)
The mood is limited to a wild Saturday in Washington with numerous twists and turns.
In a curve motion, the Senate voted 55-45 on Saturday morning to allow witnesses during the trial, after Raskin said they wanted to hear from GOP representative Jaime Herrera Beutler.
Raskin, D-Md., Quoted the ‘breaking news’ overnight over details that Beutler revealed of a heated call Trump had with GOP House leader Kevin McCarthy during the midst of the Capitol attack. has.
Beutler, who was one of ten Republicans who voted to accuse Trump in the House, released her report of the call late Friday, confirming a CNN report that Trump McCarthy’s pleas to call out the riot, from refused and rather told McCarthy that the rioters were “more upset about the election” than the House leader.
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“When McCarthy finally reached out to the president on January 6 and asked him to end the riot in public and by force, the president initially repeated the lie that it was the antifa who had violated the Capitol,” Beutler said in her statement. . “McCarthy refuted that and told the president that it was Trump supporters. That was when, according to McCarthy, the president said, ‘Well, Kevin, I think these people are more upset about the election than you are.’
Trump’s legal team exploded the decision to call witnesses and threatened to put 100 people in the case if the door is open. A visibly angry and animated Michael van der Veen said House President Nancy Pelosi, D-California, and Vice President Kamala Harris “absolutely” should also be fired, but not by Zoom.
“These depositions must be done in person in my office in Philadelphia,” Van der Veen told the senators, who laughed audibly from the Senate.
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Van deer Veen shoots back: ‘I have not laughed at any of you yet. And there’s nothing ridiculous about that. ‘
Attorney Michael T. van der Veen speaks during Trump indictment on Friday, February 12th.
The surprising vote on witnesses has shaken Washington and it seems they are even catching senators off guard.
Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said the move caused ‘chaos’ in the room. He speculated that the trial could last until April with witnesses.
“At this point, it’s pandemonium,” Cruz told pool reporters.
But just as quickly as the Senate went down the path of witnesses, lawyers reversed the course on Saturday.
Trump’s legal team has agreed to include Beutler’s damaging statement as evidence at trial. Armed with her statement, the Home Advocates then abandoned their claim that Beutler should be called as a witness altogether.
House officials said the revelations about McCarthy’s call with Trump show that Trump had renounced his oath of office by supporting the rioters and disregarding the safety of members of Congress and Pence, who were targeted by the mob for assassination.
“He has chosen to retain his own power over the security of Americans,” Rep. David Cicilline, DR.I. “I can no longer imagine damning evidence of his state of mind.”
However, the arguments were not enough to urge the 17 IDP senators needed for conviction.
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GOP leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Was very critical of Trump’s behavior around the January 6 riot and his wife – former Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao – even resigned from the government in the wake of the attack that killed at least five people. . people, including a Capitol police officer.
“There is no doubt … that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day,” McConnell said in a speech after the vote Saturday.
McConnell still found Trump “innocent” and said he believed the former president’s conviction was unconstitutional.
“We have no power to condemn and disqualify a former official who is now a private citizen,” McConnell said in a speech.