Senate Votes to Acquit Trump in Impeachment Trial – By Siobhan Hughes, Rebecca Ballhaus (The Wall Street Journal) / Feb 14 2021
WASHINGTON—The Senate voted to acquit former President Donald Trump on the charge he incited an insurrection at the Capitol, capping a weeklong impeachment trial fueled by his efforts to hold on to the White House after losing the election.
One-by-one, senators acting as the jury stood at their desks and stated their vote—with 57 for guilty and 43 for not guilty. The guilty votes were short of the 67 needed to convict Mr. Trump under the Constitution.
All 50 Democrats voted to convict, joined by seven Republicans: Sens. 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. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who voted to acquit based on jurisdictional grounds, said Mr. Trump was “practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day.”
In a statement issued after the vote, Mr. Trump thanked his supporters and the senators who had voted to acquit him. “This has been yet another phase of the greatest witch hunt in the history of our Country,” he said. Bruce Castor, one of his lawyers, said in an interview that he was pleased with the result and added: “It was an exhausting process, and I’m glad it’s over.”
