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Donald Trump acquitted by Senate in second impeachment trial:
The Senate has voted to acquit the former president of the United States after the second impeachment trial of Donald Trump concluded Saturday. The vote came after a five-day trial where arguments centered around whether Trump incited the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, and whether it is constitutional to hear the impeachment trial of a former president who is now a private citizen.
Despite a compelling prosecution, an acquittal isn't unexpected. While the Senate is split 50/50, with Vice President Kamala Harris to cast a tie-break vote as president of the Senate when necessary, the impeachment trial required a two-thirds supermajority for conviction.
This meant 17 Republican senators would have had to vote to convict Trump, an unlikely ask from the beginning. This was indicated in a Jan. 25 vote led by Sen. Rand Paul on whether the impeachment trial of a former president was "unconstitutional," during which just five Republicans voted against the motion. The first day of the impeachment trial this week then saw a similar vote, during which six Republicans voted with Democrats to continue the trial.
In the end, the vote was 57-43 to convict Trump, with all 48 Democrats, two independents and seven Republicans finding Trump guilty. The only members of the GOP who voted alongside the Democrat senators were Sens. Susan Collins, Mitt Romney, Lisa Murkowski, Ben Sasse, Pat Toomey, Bill Cassidy and Richard Burr.
Also at: CNN, Al Jazera, Time, BBC, The New York Times, The Guardian.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Ethanol-fueled on Saturday February 13 2021, @11:20PM (2 children)
Even worse, the process of discovery may hurt the Dems a lot more than it hurts Trump. Criminal prosecutors have already forfeited (whatever the legalese is) trials for being backed in corners about Muh State Sekrits. From the perspective of a public thirsty for details, a criminal trial that takes place in a classified setting hidden from the public would be more damning to Democrats than to Trump, especially if Trump is found not guilty or the trial dismissed.
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Sunday February 14 2021, @12:15AM (1 child)
I used to think that stuff mattered, but the public doesn't give a damn how many dead hookers are found in their bedrooms, reelection is still damn near guaranteed. But some of their associates would prefer a bit of discretion.
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 1) by khallow on Sunday February 14 2021, @02:50AM
Because that's a thing right? The real reason is because there's a huge amount of noise. You already complained about how shoddy the case against Trump was. Well, why should an actual member of the public think differently? They smarter than you?
To give a real world counterexample, creationists get voted out of school boards when they are found. There's been multiple times when school boards would get packed with people who secretly were creationists - unfortunately, this a thing in the US. When voters find out, those people get voted out. Sure, there's plenty of voters who think creationists should be running school boards, but there's far more who think otherwise.
Same goes for politicians who collect dead hookers in their bedrooms. You'll get someone who thinks it's fake news or whatever, but most voters won't do that.