Trump acquitted while NY’s senators voted him guilty
President Donald J. Trump was acquitted to conclude his impeachment trial today in the U.S. Senate. The vote was largely by partly line.
Only Republican Mitt Romney of Utah would join 47 Democrats in finding Trump guilty of abuse of power. Romney was among 53 Republicans who all found Trump not guilty of the second article of impeachment, obstruction of Congress.
New York is represented by two Democrats in the Senate. Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader, voted to convict Trump on both articles.
Schumer chastised the Republicans in the Senate for refusing to allow more witnesses and evidence in the trial. He called it a “sham trial.”
He made these remarks after the vote on his Facebook page:
“Madison and Washington were right. There’s no greater subversion of our democracy than for powers outside our borders to determine elections within.
“For an American president to deliberately solicit such a thing—blackmail a foreign country to help win an election—is unforgivable.
“Once President Trump realized he got caught, he tried to cover it up. Together, the defenses advanced by President Trump’s lawyers are as dangerous to the republic as they are preposterous.
“Unable to defend the president, arguments were found to try to make him a king.
“Republican Senators denied the Senate’s right to examine relevant evidence, to call witnesses and documents, to properly try the impeachment of President Trump.
“The verdict will be meaningless. This wasn’t a trial by any stretch of the definition. The American people know it.
“I direct my final message of this trial to the American people: Don’t lose hope.
“There is justice in the world, and truth, and right.
“There have been dark periods in our history, but we always overcome.”
Gillibrand issued this statement to the media after Trump was acquitted:
“The Senate failed the American people today. Despite overwhelming evidence that President Trump abused his power and obstructed Congress, Senate Republicans voted to acquit him, putting their personal ambitions and political futures ahead of the Constitution they swore to uphold.
“I voted to convict President Trump because I believe in our democracy and our Constitution. No man or woman is above the law, especially the president.
“History will remember those who stood up for our country and the rule of law, as well as those who were complicit in the degradation of our democracy. I am proud to be the former.”
