Senate Acquits Trump in Second Impeachment Trial

The Charge

The House of Representatives had impeached Trump on January 13, 2021, just one week after the Capitol attack, charging him with “incitement of insurrection.” The single article of impeachment accused Trump of engaging in “high Crimes and Misdemeanors by inciting violence against the Government of the United States.” Ten House Republicans joined all Democrats in voting to impeach, making it the most bipartisan presidential impeachment in American history.

The Trial

The Senate trial began on February 9, 2021, with the House impeachment managers, led by Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland, presenting their case over several days. Prosecutors used dramatic security camera footage from inside the Capitol during the January 6 attack, much of it never before seen publicly, showing rioters coming within feet of lawmakers and Vice President Pence. The footage visibly shook senators on both sides of the aisle.

Trump’s defense team argued that the trial was unconstitutional because Trump had already left office, and that his rally speech was protected by the First Amendment. They played selectively edited clips of Democrats using the word “fight” in political contexts to argue that Trump’s language was ordinary political rhetoric.

The Vote

On February 13, the Senate voted 57-43 to convict, with seven Republican senators joining all 50 Democrats. The Republicans who voted to convict 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. Despite a majority voting to convict, the vote fell 10 short of the 67 needed for conviction under the Constitution’s two-thirds requirement.

McConnell’s Rebuke

In a remarkable postscript, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell voted to acquit on jurisdictional grounds but then delivered a blistering speech declaring Trump “practically and morally responsible” for the attack on the Capitol. McConnell said Trump had watched the violence unfold on television and done nothing to stop it. Critics accused McConnell of trying to have it both ways, escaping accountability for a vote to acquit while condemning Trump’s behavior in the strongest possible terms.