Donald Trump was acquitted on the two articles of impeachment against him on Wednesday, bringing a four-month fractious trial and inquiry to a close.
The final outcome was an almost certainty in the Republican-controlled Senate where it would have taken a two-thirds majority to remove him from office.
Chief Justice John Roberts presided over the the two votes - one for each article - and instructed senators to vote 'guilty' or 'not guilty,' which is different from the usual 'yeah' or 'nay' lawmakers say.
The clerk of the Senate called out each senator by name so each could vote, one by one. At the end of each vote, Roberts pronounced Trump 'not guilty as charged.'
On the first article, abuse of power, 48 senators voted guilty and 52 found the president not guilty.
For the second vote, on obstruction of Congress, 47 senators voted guilty and 53 voted not guilty.
With the votes concluded, Roberts gave the final judgement.
'The Senate having tried Donald J. Trump - president of the united States - upon two articles of impeachment exhibited against him by the House of Representatives and 2/3 of the senators present not having found him guilty of the charges contained therein, it is therefore order and judged that the said Donald John Trump be hereby acquitted of the charges in the said articles,' Roberts pronounced.
The Senate vote on Wednesday brought the four-month impeachment process to a close
But there were some surprises in the final hours leading up to the 4 p.m. vote - namely the decision of Republican Senator Mitt Romney to break ranks with his party and vote to convict the president on the abuse of power charge.
He was the only Republican to do so in a move that stunned Capitol Hill.
'The grave question the Constitution tasks senators to answer is whether the president committed an act so extreme and egregious that it rises to the level of a "high crime and misdemeanor,' Romney said ahead of the vote. 'Yes, he did.'
He voted to acquit on the obstruction of Congress charge.
But Romney's decision will deny Trump a talking point he desperately coveted - that all Republicans stood by him in his hour of need.
The White House has bragged that all House Republicans voted with the president - an assertion they won't be able to make about the Senate.
Democratic House manager Adam Schiff arrives to the Senate floor for the vote
Chief Justice John Roberts arrives in Capitol to preside over the vote
Democrats, meanwhile, did not lose a single vote despite speculation that red state Senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Doug Jones of Alabama could side with the president.
To do so would have allowed Trump to brag about a bipartisan acquittal. He was denied that talking point too.
All three announced Wednesday they would vote to convict.
And it remains to be seen what political consequences remain for the lawmakers. Only Jones is up in the November election.
And the senators running for the Democratic presidential nomination - Michael Bennet, Amy Klobuchar, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren - all voted to convict on both articles.
Romney acknowledged he would face the fury of the president for his decision and he pre-taped an interview with Fox News, that ran shortly after his speech on the Senate floor, to explain his decision. The president is a frequent viewer of Fox News.
Romney, a deeply-religious Mormon, cited his faith as the reason behind his decision.
At times he choked up on the Senate floor during his remarks, pausing and taking deep breathes before he continued.
‘The allegations made in the articles of impeachment are very serious. As a senator juror, I swore an oath before god to exercise impartial justice. I am profoundly religious. My faith is at the heart of who I am. I take an oath before god as enormously consequential. I knew from the outset that being tasked with judging the president, the leader of my own party would be the most difficult decision I have ever faced,’ he said in his remarks on the Senate floor.
The bitter feud between President Trump and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi boiled over during the speech, with Trump snubbing her outstretched hand and Pelosi ripping apart a copy of his remarks behind his back.
Trump delivered the astonishing snub to Pelosi as he started his speech by ignoring her as she offered him a handshake, which set the tone for a full-throated condemnation of his political enemies and his presidential predecessors in front of a divided Congress.
He simply turned away as the Speaker took her copy of his speech, then stood in front of a chamber which echoed with cries of 'four more years' from Republicans.
That moment set the tone for the rest of the night and was reflective of the atmosphere in Washington since September, when Pelosi announced the House would formally open an impeachment investigation into the president.
Source : dailymail
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