Former President Donald Trump was impeached for inciting the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6
WASHINGTON, Feb 14 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The US Senate on Saturday acquitted former President Donald Trump on an impeachment charge of inciting an insurrection.
The acquittal comes more than a month after a mob of Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol as lawmakers were counting the electoral results that certified Trump’s loss. Five people died in the riot, including a police officer. Two other officers later killed themselves.
A majority of senators voted to convict Trump — 57 to 43, including seven Republicans. But two-thirds, or 67 votes, was needed to convict. It was the second time Trump was acquitted in an impeachment trial.
The seven GOP senators who voted to convict Trump on Saturday were: 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.
Trump is the first president in US history to be impeached by the House twice, and the first to be tried for impeachment after leaving office.
The verdict closes the book on this Trump presidency, though the Senate, by not convicting and barring him from holding public office in the future, left open the possibility that Trump, a 74-year-old Republican, could run again for president.
The impeachment managers argued that beyond Trump’s comments on Jan. 6, he laid the groundwork with two months of false claims of widespread election fraud and years of tolerating, condoning and encouraging violence.
In a narrowly divided Senate, the outcome of the trial, which lasted a little less than a week, was largely expected.
With his second acquittal, Trump now plots his next steps in political and public life. Yet he is also contending with potential legal trouble stemming from a New York grand jury investigation and a newly announced criminal probe in Georgia.
That’s in addition to Trump’s mounting debt and devalued assets. The former president’s net worth also dropped $1 billion in early 2020, according to Forbes.
Trump has been able to spin difficulties in his business and personal life before, and the country waits to see if has a next, and perhaps final, act. — NNN-AGENCIES
