Trump acquitted of both charges in Senate impeachment trial
- The acquittal vote was the final step in a two-week trial marked by impassioned arguments from House Democrats that President Trump was a danger to the nation, and stalwart support from Senate Republicans.
- Sen. Mitt Romney, who delivered a searing condemnation of the president's actions earlier in the day on the floor of the Senate, broke with his party to vote to convict Trump for abuse of power.
- Trump was accused of abusing his power by pressuring Ukraine to announce a probe into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter.
WASHINGTON – The Senate on Wednesday voted to acquit President Donald Trump of both counts in his impeachment trial.
Forty-eight senators, including one Republican, found Trump guilty of abuse of power, while 52, all Republicans, voted to acquit him.
The president was also impeached on the charge of obstruction of Congress, in which all 53 Republicans found him not guilty and the remaining 47 senators voted to convict.
The acquittal vote was the final step in a two-week trial marked by impassioned arguments from House Democrats that Trump was a danger to the nation, and stalwart support from Senate Republicans for a president who maintains a political stranglehold on their party.
Impeachment rules require 67 votes in the Senate to convict a president and remove him from office. With a 53-47 Republican majority, the odds that Trump would be convicted were slim from the start.
Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, who delivered a searing condemnation of the president's actions earlier in the day on the floor of the Senate, broke with his party to vote to convict Trump on the abuse of power count.
After Chief Justice of the Supreme Court John Roberts announced the outcome of both articles, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell thanked Roberts for his "clear head, steady hand and the forbearance that this rare occasion demands."
For his efforts, McConnell awarded Roberts the "golden gavel," which was presented to him on the Senate floor.
Roberts, in his final remarks before the trial officially adjourned, said that he leaves the chamber "with sincere good wishes as we carry out our common commitment to the Constitution through the distinct roles assigned to us by that charter."
"You have been generous hosts and I look forward to seeing you again under happier circumstances," Roberts said.
Trump later tweeted that he would make a statement regarding his acquittal on Thursday at noon from the White House.
A tense trial in the Senate
The House voted on Dec. 18 to impeach Trump on the two articles, following an investigation led in large part by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif. Zero Republicans in the House voted to impeach Trump on either charge.
Trump was accused of abusing his power by pressuring Ukraine to announce probes into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter, as well as a debunked conspiracy theory about interference in the 2016 election, while withholding nearly $400 million in congressionally appropriated military aid to the country.
Democrats argued that Trump sought to cheat in the 2020 presidential election by coercing a foreign ally to smear his possible opponent with the stain of a criminal probe. They also argued that Trump obstructed Congress by refusing to hand over any documents in the House's probe, and by pressuring potential witnesses not to comply. Trump has denied any wrongdoing.
But with the outcome of the Senate trial all but certain since its first days, the suspense turned instead to an up-or-down vote late in the trial over whether or not to admit additional evidence, which only needed 51 votes to pass.
For several days, Washington hung on the words of a handful of moderate senators, both Democrats and Republicans, who have broken with their parties on previous votes.
Two Republicans voted with Democrats to admit additional evidence, Romney and Maine Sen. Susan Collins, but the measure was defeated. Unlike Romney, however, Collins ultimately voted to acquit Trump of the charges against him.
The last-minute announcement by moderate Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia that he would vote to convict on both counts came as a surprise on Capitol Hill.
Both sides, the White House and Democrats, had wanted to stake claim to a "bipartisan vote," on their side. The president had sincerely hoped to convince at least one Democrat to vote to acquit him on at least one charge, so that the White House could have declared, technically accurately, that Trump had been acquitted by a bipartisan vote.
Ultimately, only Democrats will be able to claim a "bipartisan vote," having convinced Romney to cross party lines and vote to convict Trump on the first article.
This scenario represents a reverse of the House impeachment vote in December, when no Republicans crossed party lines to vote with Democrats to impeach Trump, but several Democrats crossed lines to vote against the articles of impeachment.
Reactions to the verdict
In a statement to NBC, White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham hailed the outcome as a "full vindication and exoneration" for Trump.
"This entire effort by the Democrats was aimed at overturning the results of the 2016 election and interfering with the 2020 election," Grisham said after slamming the Democrats who led the impeachment efforts — as well as Romney, referred to as a "failed Republican presidential candidate."
"The President is pleased to put this latest chapter of shameful behavior by the Democrats in the past, and looks forward to continuing his work on behalf of the American people in 2020 and beyond," Grisham said.
Following the vote, the seven Democratic House impeachment managers defended their case in an op-ed for The Washington Post. Despite having lost the trial, they said, their argument gave voters more clarity about the coming election.
"Because of the impeachment process, voters can now stand forewarned of the lengths to which the president will go to try to secure his reelection, violating the law and undermining our national security and that of our allies," they wrote.
Trump is just the third president in U.S. history to face trial in the Senate on articles of impeachment.
A long road for Democrats
Republicans have accused Democrats of searching for reasons to take Trump out of office from the moment he won the presidency in 2016 over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. But Democratic leaders did not always support impeaching Trump.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., had argued that impeachment was exactly the kind of destined-to-fail attack on Trump that the president wanted in order to "solidify his base."
For months, Pelosi resisted intense pressure from a growing coalition of Democrats to launch impeachment proceedings against Trump, pressure that escalated after a special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation found numerous instances of potential obstruction of justice by Trump.
Mueller was probing Russia's meddling in the 2016 presidential election, as well as possible coordination between the Kremlin and Trump's campaign and possible obstruction of justice.
He found insufficient evidence to support a conspiracy and declined to recommend any charges against Trump, kicking that decision over to Attorney General William Barr, who cleared the president.
But after a whistleblower's bombshell complaint revealed that Trump pressured Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in a July 25 phone call to "look into" his potential 2020 opponent former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter, Pelosi launched an impeachment inquiry in the House.
— CNBC's Kevin Breuninger contributed reporting from Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.