The Senate voted 57-43 today to acquit former President Trump of inciting an insurrection at the Capitol on Jan, 6.
Trump’s second impeachment trial lasted five days with both House managers and defense lawyers presenting evidence and arguments to support their positions.
Our live coverage of the trial has ended, but in case you missed it, here’s what you need to know about today’s proceedings:
Lead impeachment manager Jamie Raskin hailed Democrats’ efforts to convict former President Trump as the “most bipartisan presidential impeachment in the history of the United States,” and said Democrats successfully defended Congress from Trump’s attack.
“They tried to trash our democracy and we revived it, and we protected,” he added.
Raskin then pointed to remarks made by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell shortly after the acquittal as proof that they had succeeded in making their argument.
“Senator Mitch McConnell just went to the floor, essentially to say that we made our case on the facts, that he believed that Donald Trump was practically and morally responsible for inciting the events of January 6th. He described it as we did, as a disgraceful dereliction of duty, a desertion of his office.”
Watch the moment here:
President Trump’s attorney Michael van der Veen said the House impeachment managers were “like a dying animal that we had trapped in the corner,” when they initially voted to call witnesses in President Trump’s second impeachment trial on Saturday. Ultimately, no witnesses were called to testify in the trial.
“What had happened was the day before we demolished their case, and they were like a dying animal that we had trapped in the corner. And so this morning their last gasp were swinging out at us trying to save their case, and it didn’t work,” van der Veen said after the Senate found Trump not guilty of inciting the deadly Jan. 6 riot at the US Capitol.
He added that House managers “didn’t have a case.”
“They shouldn’t have brought this impeachment from the beginning. It really does stem from political hatred,” he said.
Van der Veen would not say whether he has spoken with Trump since the acquittal vote, but said the former President was “vindicated” today.
“He had a good day in court today. He was vindicated. He was found not guilty. The political witch hunt that they had, that the Democrats had thrown at him was defeated, so he should feel quite pleased,” van der Veen said.
The Philadelphia attorney said his home was attacked as the trial was ongoing and that his business is “under siege.”
“My home was attacked, I’d rather not go into that. To answer your question, my entire family, my business, my law firm are under siege right now. I don’t really want to go into that though,” he said.
GOP Sen. Susan Collins, who was among the Republicans who voted to convict former President Trump, spoke on the Senate floor explaining her vote, saying Trump “incited an insurrection with the purpose of preventing that transfer of power from occurring.”
“Instead of preventing a dangerous situation, President Trump created one. Rather than defend the Constitutional transfer of power, he incited an insurrection with the purpose of preventing that transfer of power from occurring,” she said.
Collins said that Trump’s “actions to interfere with the peaceful transition of power – the hallmark of our Constitution and our American democracy – were an abuse of power and constitute grounds for conviction.”
“My vote in this trial stems from my own oath and duty to defend the Constitution of the United States. The abuse of power and betrayal of his oath by President Trump meet the Constitutional standard of high crimes and misdemeanors and for those reasons, I voted to convict,” she said.
Republicans Sens. Tim Scott and Ben Sasse were sitting in the back of the chamber talking ahead of the final vote and appeared to be guessing who would vote. Scott kept flashing the No. 5 with his hand.
When the vote started, Republican Sen. Susan Collins closed the folder on her desk. After she voted guilty, she stared straight ahead. Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski did the same after her “guilty” vote – she looked straight ahead, jaw set.
When Sen. Bill Cassidy voted, he stood up, black bag laying on top of his desk, both hands on top of it, and said “guilty.” Cassidy left the room while the “R’s” were being called, at around when Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen was voting.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer glared at Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell when the Republican voted to acquit Trump.
Republican Sen. John Thune, who ultimately voted not guilty, looked visibly uncomfortable the entire time. His head was in his hands, and he clasped and unclasped his hands several times. He shook his feet beneath him.
When Thune finally voted, his “not guilty” was done in barely audible volume. Murkowski, who sits behind him, shot a glare at the back of his head.
Republican Sen. Rob Portman, who sits behind Republican Sen. Richard Burr, went to Burr when the vote was over and patted him on the back and they started briefly chatting.
On his way out, Burr walked by Sasse, grabbed his arm, and they chatted, almost whispering, for a minute or two.
More on today’s vote: The final vote was 57 guilty to 43 not guilty, short of the 67 guilty votes needed to convict.
But the seven Republican senators who voted against former President Trump amounted to a number higher than even Trump’s legal team had expected, marking a stark departure from the first impeachment trial where only one Republican, Mitt Romney of Utah, found Trump guilty.
Sen. Patrick Leahy, a Democrat from Vermont, said he understands the important role he played as presiding judge and he worked as hard as he could to be impartial.
“Well, I’ve presided over hundreds of hours before. Nothing like this I, I realized the significance,” he said.
When asked about the seven Republicans who voted to convict, Leahy demurred. “I don’t want to comment on that, I just tried to be as impartial as I possible could in that position.”
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said if former President Trump was still in office, “I would have carefully considered whether the House managers proved their specific charge.”
“Donald Trump’s no longer the president. Likewise, the provision states that officers subject to impeachment and conviction shall be removed from office if convicted,” he said, emphasizing “from office.”
McConnell did not count out the possibility of Trump being tried in civil or criminal courts.
“President Trump is still liable for everything he did while he was in office as an ordinary citizen unless the statute of limitations is run, still liable for everything he did while in office. Didn’t get away with anything yet. Yet. We have a criminal justice system in this country. We have civil litigation. And former presidents are not immune from being accountable by either one,” he said.
McConnell said the Senate’s decision to acquit Trump does not condone the violence on Jan. 6.
“It simply shows that senators did what the former President failed to do. We put our constitutional duty first,” he said.
As Senate majority leader last month, McConnell rebuffed calls by Senate Democrats for a speedy trial during Trump’s final days in office.
Watch:
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell called the Jan. 6 Capitol attack a “disgrace.”
“They did this because they had been fed wild falsehoods by the most powerful man on Earth. Because he was angry. He had lost an election. Former President Trump’s actions preceded the riot were a disgraceful, disgraceful dereliction of duty,” McConnell said.
McConnell said there were “wild myths” about election fraud, but he said he defended Trump’s right to bring any complaints to the legal system.
“As I stood up and said clearly at that time, the election was settled. It was over. But that just really opened a new chapter of even wilder, wilder and more unfounded claims,” he said. “The leader of the free world cannot spend weeks thundering that shadowy forces are stealing our country and then feign surprise when people believe him and do reckless things.”
Trump “did not do his job” to end the Jan. 6 violence, McConnell said.
McConnell called the Trump defense team invoking Trump’s voters during the impeachment trial “as a human shield against criticism.”
Watch:
A source on former President Trump’s team reacted to the acquittal, saying, “Wow, phew.”
The source expressed relief Democrats did not ultimately call witnesses because they had heard some Republicans were on the fence and they were waiting to hear from witnesses.
The source says they were expecting five or six Republicans to vote for impeachment, but the final vote that included seven GOP members voting to impeach was “unexpected and a shock.”
Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana said he voted to convict former President Trump “because he is guilty.”
Cassidy was one of seven Republican senators who joined Democrats in voting to convict Trump of inciting an insurrection at the Capitol on Jan. 6. Trump was ultimately acquitted as Democrats failed to get enough Republicans to join them in convicting Trump.
Former President Trump just released a statement following the Senate vote to acquit him in his second impeachment trial.
Part of the statement read:
Trump also thanked his legal team and “all of the United States Senators and Members of Congress who stood proudly for the Constitution we all revere and for the sacred legal principles at the heart of our country,” in the statement.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer tore into the Senate’s decision to acquit former President Trump, calling the vote “un-American” and insulting to patriots who gave their lives for our republic over the centuries.
“The former President inspired, directed, and propelled a mob to violently prevent the peaceful transfer of power, subvert the will of the people, and illegally keep that President in power,” he said, speaking moments after the upper chamber had voted to acquit Trump.
Schumer went on to say the events of Jan. 6, would be Trump’s “final terrible legacy” and the 57 Republicans who voted to acquit would be forever linked to that legacy.
“Let it live on in infamy, a stain on Donald John Trump that can never, never be washed away,” he said.
Watch:
The Senate just voted to acquit former President Trump in his second impeachment trial. The vote was 57-43, with seven Republicans joining the Democrats. Senators needed a two-thirds majority to convict Trump.
These are the seven Republicans who voted to convict the former President:
Former President Trump has been acquitted in his historic second impeachment trial, with seven Republican senators joining 50 Democrats voting to convict, fewer than the 17 needed.
Watch:
The Senate is on track to acquit former President Trump of inciting the insurrection at the Capitol, with Democrats failing to reach the threshold of Republicans needed to convict him — at least 17.
The Senate is voting on whether to convict former President Trump on one article of impeachment for inciting the Capitol riot.
It follows a day of surprise and confusion after a motion to seek witnesses passed. The Senate then went into a break to discuss how to move forward.
They ultimately agreed to enter a statement from Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler – describing a phone call between former President Trump and House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy – into the record instead of calling her as a witness.
Both sides then made closing arguments that have now concluded.
The clerk is reading the House of Representatives’ article of impeachment against former President Trump on the Senate floor. The Senate is about to vote on whether to convict Trump.
Democrats in the House of Representatives voted to impeach Donald Trump on Jan. 13, charging him with “incitement of insurrection” for his role in the Capitol riot.
You can read the full article here.
Watch:
Former President Trump’s defense team just concluded their closing speech.
House impeachment manager Jamie Raskin is now rebutting some of attorney Michael van der Veen’s claims.
In his closing remarks, former President Trump’s defense attorney Michael van der Veen slammed Democrats for pursuing impeachment.
“Democrats were obsessed with impeaching Mr. Trump from the very beginning of his term. … And now they have conducted a phony impeachment show trial when he’s a private citizen out of office,” van der Veen added.
Van der Veen said Democrats’ fear of Trump possibly being elected to public office in the future is driving this impeachment trial.
He called the proceedings a “maniacal crusade” by House Democrats and urged senators to not “go down this dark path of anonymity and division.”
Then-President Trump was aware his vice president had been evacuated to a secure location as rioters were storming the US Capitol, according to a person who was with the former President on Jan. 6.
And while Trump never attempted to contact Vice President Mike Pence directly, infuriating Pence’s team, he did express concern for Pence to advisers gathered in the dining room off the Oval Office over the course of the afternoon, said Gen. Keith Kellogg, who was among the aides surrounding Trump.
After returning to the White House from his midday rally on the Ellipse, Trump and his aides gathered around the flat-screen television in the presidential dining room as his supporters began storming the Capitol.
Trump at the time was irate with Pence for informing him he would not attempt to overturn the election results. He continued to be focused on the electoral count well into the afternoon.
As images on television played of rioters entering the Capitol, rushing past security barriers, Trump asked aides whether Pence was safe, according to Kellogg, who was Pence’s national security adviser but was with the then-President that day.
Aides informed Trump that Pence was under Secret Service control and had been taken to a secure location, Kellogg said.
“Absolutely he was concerned about Pence,” said Kellogg, who was with Trump at the White House as the rioting unfolded. Kellogg, who was Pence’s national security adviser was in communication with the vice president through this staff at the Capitol. They were communicating back to the White House and getting that information to Kellogg
Another person familiar with the situation confirmed Kellogg’s account to CNN.
Multiple sources say Trump never attempted to contact Pence directly.
At 2:24 p.m. ET, Trump tweeted that Pence lacked “courage,” a message that came minutes after the vice president was rushed off the Senate floor and to a secure location. People in the room said they did not fully understand how bad situation was at the time the tweet was sent as they do in hindsight.
In the ensuing minutes, however, the severity of the situation became more apparent. Aides gathered in the dining room weighed how to respond, ultimately convincing Trump to tweet to the protesters to be peaceful — a sentiment he initially resisted, another source familiar says.
Another source involved pushed back on that characterization, saying it was a very dynamic environment and there were several versions of the tweet being passed around.
At one point, officials at the White House were made aware of a plan to evacuate Pence to Joint Base Andrews, which never ultimately transpired. Pence remained at the Capitol and later returned to the Senate chamber to oversee the Electoral College certification.
Separately, on the night before the Jan. 6 rally, Trump heard protesters gathering for the next day’s rally from the Oval Office, according to a person familiar with the matter. The energy from the crowd prompted Trump to ask what could be done to put maximum pressure on lawmakers to object to the Electoral College certification.
Aides told him his speech would be the focal point of the day.
