Two months ago, President Donald Trump became the third American president to be impeached. Earlier this week, he became the third to be acquitted.
The US Senate voted 52-48 Wednesday to acquit Trump on abuse of power and 53-47 to acquit on obstruction of Congress.
Virtually every political expert, including Emporia State political science professor Michael Smith, saw this coming. Smith was among many who anticipated the Democrat-heavy House of Representatives would pass the articles of impeachment and the Republican-led Senate would vote to acquit.
Smith says impeachment may point out the open political divide that has been developing for some time. It also demonstrates what he calls “reality show politics” is now here.
Having said that, Smith says old-school political practices of coalition-building and “micro-targeting” are still heavily used.
Trump had been under scrutiny since last summer after urging Ukraine to investigate political rival Joe Biden’s son and his relationship with a Ukrainian gas company while withholding almost $400 million in military aid.
5 pm Wednesday: Senate acquits President Trump on both impeachment counts
To almost nobody’s surprise, President Donald Trump has been acquitted of both charges levied against him two months ago as part of an impeachment trial.
The US Senate voted 52-48 Wednesday to acquit Trump on abuse of power and 53-47 to acquit on obstruction of Congress.
Trump had been under scrutiny since last summer after urging Ukraine to investigate political rival Joe Biden’s son and his relationship with a Ukrainian gas company while withholding almost $400 million in military aid. Democrats, who have the majority in the House of Representatives, approved two articles of impeachment in December. However, Republicans have the majority in the Senate and most quickly made it clear they would not convict the President, with many saying the evidence did not rise to impeachable offenses.
Trump became the third president to be impeached after Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton. Both were also acquitted.
