US Impeachment Trial Over as Senate Acquits Trump
POLITICS DIGEST – The US Senate acquitted President Donald Trump on Wednesday of charges that he abused his power and obstructed Congress, as Republicans turned back an election-year attempt by House Democrats to remove Trump from office.
The tally for conviction fell far below the 67-vote threshold necessary for removal and neither article of impeachment garnered even a simple majority. The first article, abuse of power, was rejected 48 to 52, and the second, obstruction of Congress, was defeated 47 to 53. Senator Mitt Romney, Republican of Utah, was the only member to break with his party, voting to remove Mr. Trump from office.
The votes, ending the third presidential impeachment trial in American history, were a resounding victory for Trump after five months of blaring scandal over Ukraine that embroiled Washington and threatened his presidency. But both sides agreed that the final judgment on Trump will be rendered by voters when they cast ballots in just nine months.
In the first charge “abusing power of office” the Senate, mainly controlled by the Republican party, voted 52-48 while in the second charge “obstruction of congress” the Senate voted 53-47. To vote the president out, two-thirds of the majority vote is needed.
Mr Trump was charged by the Democrats in December with pressuring the Ukrainian government to further investigate former vice president Joe Biden, a move that is said would enhance his chances of winning the 2020 elections.
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If he had been convicted, he would have had to turn over his office to Vice President Mike Pence.
Throughout the impeachment trial, Mr Trump has denied doing anything wrong.
In his reelection campaign, he said in a statement, “President Trump has been totally vindicated and it’s now time to go back to the business of the American people.
“The do-nothing Democrats know they can’t beat him, so they had to impeach him,” he added.
The statement further read that “this impeachment hoax will go down as the worst miscalculation in American political history,”
Mr Trump also tweeted, “I will be making a public statement tomorrow at 12:00pm from the @WhiteHouse to discuss our Country’s VICTORY on the Impeachment Hoax!”
Only one Republican, Mitt Romney, indicted the president on the charge of abuse of power.
Some Republican senators, although criticising Mr Trumps behaviour, concluded that impeaching him was too harsh a judgement.
What did Donald Trump do wrong?
In December 2019, the U.S. president was accused of “attempting to withhold military aid to Ukraine and pressure its government to investigate former vice president Joe Biden.”
He was also accused of obstructing Congress for “refusing to participate in the impeachment inquiry.”
The Democrats according to BBC, “expressed concern that the acquittal would further embolden the president” whom they depicted as a demagogue.
Meanwhile, a displeased Nancy Pelosi, House Speaker, said that the president is “an ongoing threat to American democracy” and his acquittal showed that both the Senate and Republicans “normalised lawlessness.”
