Conviction Falls Short of Two-Thirds: 57 U.S. Senators Vote to Convict

 

President pro tempore Patrick Leahy presides over the second impeachment trial of Donald Trump
- United States Senate, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons -

Former President Donald Trump's historical second Senate Impeachment Trial ended on Saturday, February 13th after just five days of presentations and questioning, falling short of the necessary 67 votes for impeachment conviction. Seven Republicans -- Burr, Toomey, Sasse, Collins, Romney, Murkowski, Cassidy -- voted with all Democrats to charge the former President. The 57-43 vote marks the first time since 1868 that a majority of the Senate voted to convict a president on an impeachment charge, and the vote had the most conviction votes in history from the President's same party. Despite this, the vote fell short of the two-thirds threshold for Senate impeachment conviction.

The vote comes after a hectic day of trial activities, including a successful vote to hear witness testimony followed three hours later by a deal to admit a Congresswoman's statement into the evidentiary record instead as well as several objections during closing remarks.

In the wake of the vote, senators have released statements and made remarks explaining their votes. Notable senators included Sen. Mitch McConnell. Sen. McConnell ultimately voted to acquit the former president, citing the legal argument that a trial of a former president is unconstitutional, however in his speech on the Senate floor, the Republican leader offered a blistering retribution of Donald Trump. "They did this because they had been fed wild falsehoods by the most powerful man on Earth," McConnell said, placing blame for the January 6th Insurrection squarely on the former president, adding, "This was an intensifying crescendo of conspiracy theories orchestrated by an outgoing president." The senator said in no uncertain terms that Trump was "practically and morally" responsible for the riot.

It is worth noting, due to the senator's reasonings for his acquittal vote, that it was Mitch McConnell who refused to allow the trial to begin before the January 20th Inauguration of Joe Biden.

In addition to his scorching remarks against Mr. Trump, Sen. McConnell made sure to note that former presidents are indeed liable to any criminal prosecution. This could be something to keep an eye on moving forward.

In the end, House Impeachment Manager Castro summarized the acquittal of Trump as being "let off on a technicality."

Our live blog from the impeachment trial is archived here and gives a fuller look at the trial as it was happening.