Donald Trump's Impeachment Case Junked; Found Not Guilty Of Abuse Of Power, Obstruction Of Congress

The months-long impeachment trial of U.S. President Donald Trump concluded with the Senate acquitting him on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. On Wednesday, Feb. 5, the Republicans successfully turned back an attempt by the Democrats to expel Trump from his office, allowing the U.S. leader to triumph over the greatest threat yet to his presidency.

“Two thirds of the senators present not having found him guilty of the charges contained therein, it is therefore ordered and adjudged that the said Donald John Trump be, and he is hereby, acquitted,” declared Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, who presided over the impeachment trial.

Both articles of impeachment failed to garner at least 67 votes—the threshold necessary to impeach Trump. The first article, abuse of power, was vetoed 48 to 52, while the second article, obstruction of Congress, was rejected 47 to 53.

In the wake of Trump’s acquittal and the White House’s declaration of a “full exoneration” for the President, the Democrats condemned the result of the trial, describing it as “valueless” and “unfair.” Meanwhile, the Republicans, who successfully mustered a majority of the votes to avoid Trump’s conviction, painted the trial as a political effort to “destroy the president.”

Senator Mitt Romney, a Republican from Utah and a longtime foe of Trump, was the only Republican to break with his party and vote for Trump’s conviction. He risked the ire of the White House to vote alongside the Democrats on the first count, saying that the U.S. President was guilty of an appalling abuse of public trust.

Following the verdict, Nancy Pelosi, the House Speaker and top Democrat in Congress, said the Republicans normalized lawlessness when they cleared Trump. “There can be no acquittal without a trial, and there is no trial without witnesses, documents and evidence,” she said. “Sadly, because of the Republican Senate’s betrayal of the Constitution, the president remains an ongoing threat to American democracy,” she added.

On Thursday, Feb. 8, Trump will deliver a formal statement from the White House to discuss his “victory on the impeachment hoax.” Shortly before his Twitter announcement, he also shared on his Twitter account a forged cover of Time Magazine proclaiming him as “the president for all eternity.”