Cleared Trump vows he’s ‘only just begun’
WASHINGTON: Donald Trump teased a political comeback as he was acquitted at his “sham” impeachment trial, with Democrats failing to secure the votes to find him guilty of “incitement of insurrection”.
The former US president spoke out after five days of silence during the trial, thanking his legal team and the Republican senators who sided with him.
It came after seven Republicans sided with Democrats and as Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, who had voted not guilty, declared Mr Trump could still face criminal charges over the January 6 raid on the US Capitol.
“There’s no question – none – that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events,” Senator McConnell said in a fiery speech in the Senate. “The people who stormed this building believed they were acting on the wishes and instructions of their president.”
Senator McConnell was accused of hypocrisy and cowardice for lashing Mr Trump so soon after joining 42 other Republicans in voting not guilty. He defended his vote on the basis of the impeachment being unconstitutional because Mr Trump was now a private citizen.
Describing Mr Trump’s behaviour on January 6 as “a disgraceful, disgraceful dereliction of duty”, he said he was still open to criminal and civil charges. “He didn’t get away with anything yet,” he said.
Mr Trump’s lawyers criticised the “phony impeachment show trial” as they wrapped up their defence.
“It is time to bring this unconstitutional political theatre to an end,” Michael van der Veen said.
Warning that the impeachment of a private citizen could “haunt” future presidents for years to come, Mr van der Veen said House impeachment managers had failed to prove the single charge of “incitement of insurrection”.
The former president welcomed his acquittal in a statement, describing the trial as a “witch hunt” and indicating that the Make America Great Again movement would continue.
“In the months ahead I have much to share with you, and I look forward to continuing our incredible journey together to achieve American greatness for all of our people,” he said. “We have so much work ahead of us.” Earlier, the trial had taken a dramatic turn after Democrats called for witnesses to testify about what steps the thenpresident took to quell the uprising, before agreeing to a deal that would admit one witness’s testi
mony without her needing to appear.
House impeachment manager Jamie Raskin said he wished to hear evidence from Republican congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler following her statement on Friday that Mr Trump had rebuffed a request from senior Republican and Trump confidant Kevin McCarthy to “publicly and forcefully call off the riot”.
Ms Herrera Beutler said: “That’s when, according to McCarthy, the president said: ‘Well, Kevin, I guess these people are more upset about the election than you are’.”
She said the conversation showed Mr Trump was more concerned with getting his supporters to keep fighting for him, rather than ending the riot.