WASHINGTON – Following the acquittal today by Senate Republicans of former President Trump on impeachment charges for the second time, Constitutional Accountability Center President Elizabeth Wydra issued the following reaction: 

Today’s vote by Senate Republicans to acquit former President Donald Trump of violating the oath he swore to defend America’s Constitution is a historic shame. 

With his actions on and before January 6, former President Trump incited a mob that attacked the Capitol and tried to stop the counting of electoral votes, in order for him to hold onto power after losing the 2020 presidential election. This week, House Managers showed America in vivid detail how Trump’s insurrectionist mob threatened the health and safety of everyone within the U.S. Capitol—including the lives of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former Vice President Pence—in an attack that resulted in the deaths of seven people, including three Capitol Police officers. The peaceful transfer of power laid out in our Constitution was disrupted.

As House Republican Conference Chair Liz Cheney said, “There has never been a greater betrayal by a President of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution.”

Former President Trump’s actions should have earned nothing less than conviction by the Senate and disqualification from holding further office. Faced with overwhelming and undisputed evidence, all 100 senators—regardless of political party—should have voted to do so. This was not a political game. It was no less than a vote on whether to accept the undisputed evidence and protect the future of American democracy.

However—and although with some notable and laudable exceptions who made this the most bipartisan vote in an impeachment trial of a president—the vast majority of Republican Senators failed to do their duty and protect our nation today.

They failed to atone for the grievous error they made one year ago that taught Trump the lesson of impunity, which in turn allowed him to incite the insurrection against the Capitol on January 6.  

They failed to prove that cold, hard facts still mean something to Republican leaders, instead finding common cause with conspiracy theorists like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and others who spread the big lie of a “stolen” 2020 presidential election.   

We should all worry deeply for the future of our country. We should worry about whether we will be a nation that holds the powerful to account and remains committed to the values of free and fair democracy—a vision of America betrayed by today’s vote—and rededicate ourselves to working toward a country that reflects the best of American values rather than the darkness of today’s failure.    

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Resources:  

CAC RELEASE: “Impeachment Trial: ‘House Managers Made a Case Trump’s Attorneys Cannot Refute,’” Elizabeth Wydra, February 11, 2021: https://www.theusconstitution.org/news/release-impeachment-trial-house-managers-made-a-case-trumps-attorneys-cannot-refute/  

CAC RELEASE: “In Second Trump Impeachment Trial, Senate Republicans Face Stark Choices,” Elizabeth Wydra, February 4, 2012: https://www.theusconstitution.org/news/release-in-second-trump-impeachment-trial-senate-republicans-face-stark-choices/ 

CAC RELEASE: “Historic Second Impeachment of President Trump: A ‘Critical Step Forward, But Congress’s Work Is Not Done,’” Elizabeth Wydra, January 13, 2021: https://www.theusconstitution.org/news/release-historic-second-impeachment-of-president-trump-a-critical-step-forward-but-congresss-work-is-not-done/  

CAC RELEASE: “Impeach, Remove, and Bar Donald Trump From Holding Federal Office Again,” Elizabeth Wydra, January 7, 2021: https://www.theusconstitution.org/news/release-impeach-remove-and-bar-donald-trump-from-holding-federal-office-again/  

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Constitutional Accountability Center is a think tank, public interest law firm, and action center dedicated to fulfilling the progressive promise of the Constitution’s text and history. Visit CAC’s website at www.theusconstitution.org.  

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