Trump has survived the second impeachment trial once again, the only president in the history to do so. The second trial of the 45th President of the United States ended with an acquittal that officially frees him from the accusation of inciting the insurrection against the Capitol that occurred on January 6.
The support of his Republican colleagues gave him once again protection that will not indict him in the second trial attempt.
57 Senators voted against him and among them 7 are Republicans, and 43 Senators found him “not guilty.”
The two-thirds majority needed to reach a convicting verdict was not reached. From his office in Florida, the former president celebrated his victory.
Once again, the Republicans have saved him but not many want to see him return to politics. To everyone’s surprise, after the vote, Republican leader Mitch McConnell took the floor to say that Trump is morally responsible for the Capitol attack.
McConnell assured that, had the trial been held while he was still in office, he would have voted in favor of convicting Trump.
At the beginning of its fifth and final day, the process took an unexpected turn: the Senate received 55 votes in favor and 45 against the request of the prosecution to call witnesses to testify. The results took all Senators by surprise, including Democrats.
Chaos gripped the Senate. Trump’s lawyers and Republicans took it as a declaration of war. The 57-43 vote in the currently evenly divided Senate generated the largest bipartisan margin for the impeachment trial in US history.
Jamie Raskin, in his role as prosecutor, implored Senators to find Trump guilty of inciting the historic insurrection.
Trump’s defense, for their part, insisted that the fact that some of the participants had planned their actions means that they cannot be held accountable for Trump’s speech on January 6.
The number of Republican Senators who supported Trump’s conviction, seven, was slightly higher than expected
Following the vote, the Senate’s trial committee was dissolved and the session continued.
Senator McConnell suggested that it is up to the ordinary courts to try Trump. One way or another, the Capitol has once again acquitted the 45th President of the United States.
Trump declared victory after surviving impeachment a second time, saying his political movement “has just begun.
