BBC News Washington DC
February 14, 2021
The US Senate has fallen short of the two-thirds majority needed to convict former President Donald Trump on a charge of incitement to insurrection over the Capitol riot on 6 January.
A majority of senators (57 to 43) voted to convict Trump. It would have needed 17 Republicans to vote with the Democrats to secure a conviction.
Trump denied the charge against him. On Friday (February 12, 2021) his lawyer described the impeachment as a “witch hunt.”
This was Trump’s second impeachment. If he had been convicted, the Senate could have voted to bar him from running for office ever again.
Some highlights of the Trial
Trump is cleared over the deadly January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol
He was accused on a single charge of causing a deadly insurrection
Fifty-seven senators voted to convict him – 43 found him not guilty
Seven Republicans turned against their former boss, 10 short of the number needed to convict
Top Republican Mitch McConnell lambasted Trump’s election ‘lies’ but said he could not convict him because he is now a private citizen
A statement from Trump called the verdict a witch hunt but vowed to carry on the fight
What happened on Saturday?
Closing Statements
In their closing statements, the Democratic House of Representatives lawmakers appointed to shepherd the process through the Senate warned that it would be dangerous to acquit Trump.
“The stakes could not be higher because the cold, hard truth is that what happened on 6 January can happen again,” Representative Joe Neguse said.
“History has found us. I ask that you not look the other way,” Representative Madeleine Dean said.
However, Trump’s lawyer, Michael van der Veen, called the proceedings a “show trial” and said the Democrats were “obsessed” with impeaching Trump.
“This impeachment has been a complete charade from beginning to end. The entire spectacle has been nothing but the unhinged pursuit of a long-standing political vendetta against Trump by the opposition Party,” he said.
The outcome of the vote was foreshadowed by the senior Republican in Congress, Senator Mitch McConnell, saying he would vote to acquit.
Why no witnesses?
Senators initially voted for personal testimony, which would have delayed a possible verdict on Saturday, February 13, 2021. But after emergency consultations to avoid any hold-up, they changed their ruling to admit written statements only.
The flip-flop came after discussion of a phone call between the former US President and a top Republican official, Kevin McCarthy, while the riot was going on.
A Republican member of the House of Representatives, Jaime Herrera-Beutler, said that McCarthy had told her about the call on the day.
She said that McCarthy implored Trump to call off the rioters, but the President wrongly blamed left-wing activists broadly known as “antifa”.
“McCarthy refuted that and told the President that these were Trump supporters. That was when, according to McCarthy, the President said: ‘Well, Kevin, I guess these people are more upset about the election than you are.’”
Instead, the Congresswoman’s statement was admitted in written evidence.
