Donald Trump escaped an impeachment conviction when the US Senate fell nine votes short of the two-thirds majority needed to find the former president of inciting last month’s insurrection at the US Capitol.
Fifty-seven Senators voted to convict the former president on one count of incitement of insurrection after the deadly Jan. 16 incident that led to five deaths and is still being investigated by federal authorities. Forty-three Senators, including Kansas Senators Jerry Moran and Roger Marshall, voted to acquit.
Trump’s attorneys said his speech leading up to the riot was protected by the First Amendment. They also said Democrats and the media used similar language in the past.
House managers, who served as prosecutors, disagreed. They said Trump had spread falsehoods about the presidential election being stolen from him for several weeks as a connected precursor to the violence that followed.
Trump was impeached in December 2019 on two articles, one of obstruction of Congress and one of abuse of power. He was acquitted after 53 Senators voted to convict.
Andrew Johnson was the first president impeached back in 1868, with Bill Clinton impeached in 1998. Both avoided conviction. Richard Nixon resigned to avoid impeachment.
Statement by Senator Jerry Moran
“The violence at the United States Capitol on January 6 was an attempt to subvert democracy, and I condemn it in the strongest possible terms. Rioters and extremists sought to prevent members of Congress and Vice President Pence from performing their constitutional obligation to affirm the results of the election, and President Trump was wrong to continue to spread allegations of widespread fraud and not immediately discourage the reprehensible and unpatriotic behavior.
“The Constitution does not clearly state whether a former president can be tried for impeachment by the Senate, but I believe the impeachment is intended to be used for considering whether or not ‘The President’ should be removed from office. Because former President Trump is no longer in office I voted to acquit. Establishing the precedent that the Senate has jurisdiction to convict a former president would cause extreme damage to our country and the future of the presidency.”
Statement by Senator Roger Marshall
“This impeachment trial has kept us from doing the work we need to be focused on: getting the COVID-19 vaccine into peoples’ arms, opening our economy back up, getting Americans back to work, as well as confirming an agriculture secretary to get the $1.5 billion in CARES Act funding out to farmers, ranchers and folks who need help putting food on the table.
“This trial has brought to light just how much was known about the planning of the riot prior to January 6 and questions now linger as to what was known by Nancy Pelosi and security officials in the Capitol and across federal agencies ahead of time One question does not remain and that is: what was the motivation of this trial? The motivation was political hatred and was simply a continuation of the four-year impeachment fixation on the part of the House managers and the Democrat party.
“Let me be clear, both sides of the aisle are guilty of heated rhetoric. But equally guilty are the House managers and the Democrats for their hypocrisy, and President Trump’s defense team painted that picture clearly.
“While I believe this entire trial was unconstitutional from the start, I hope the failure to convict will put an end to the Democrat’s obsession and allow temperatures to finally settle and for us to work in a bipartisan fashion moving forward. It’s true, we face many challenges ahead as a nation. But, I remain confident there are brighter days ahead for Kansas and for our entire country. It’s time for Congress to get back to the work of the American people.”
