Trump not guilty, again
After a day of drama, Senate votes 57-43 to acquit former US prez over attack on Capitol
WASHINGTON With not enough senators voting to convict him of inciting the riot at the US Capitol on January 6, Donald Trump has been acquitted, but will still go down in history as the only American president to have been impeached twice, and acquitted twice.
The motion to convict Trump for the riot received 57 “guilty” verdicts on Saturday, with seven Republicans joining all the 50 Democrats; and 43 “not guilty”, by all the remaining Republicans. A conviction, which would have barred him from holding any federal office in future, required 67 votes, or two-thirds of the 100-member chamber.
“While the final vote did not lead to a conviction, the substance of the charge is not in dispute,” President Joe Biden said. “This sad chapter in our history has reminded us that democracy is fragile. That it must always be defended. That we must be ever vigilant. That violence and extremism has no place in America.”
This was the largest bipartisan vote ever in the impeachment trial of a US president. And it reflected the growing disaffection with Trump in the party. Seven Republicans declared him guilty this time, compared to only one during his first impeachment trial in January 2020. Ten House Republicans had voted to impeach him this time, compared to none the last time, in December 2019.
Many of the Republicans who voted “not guilty” stressed they had done so only on a technicality — that the American constitution does not provide for convicting a president who is no longer in office. They denounced him roundly for his role in inciting the insurrection. Among them was Mitch Mcconnell, the top Senate Republican, who said Trump was “practically and morally responsible” for the Capitol invasion.
Trump thanked his lawyers and supporters in a statement and sought to play the victim, saying the trial was “yet another phase of the greatest witch hunt in the history of our country”. He also indicated he will be back — “soon we will emerge with a vision for a bright, radiant, and limitless American future”.
The acquittal may not, however, mark the end of Trump’s legal troubles.
“President Trump is still liable for everything he did while he was in office as an ordinary citizen,” Mcconnell pointed to it in his floor speech explaining his vote to acquit him. “He didn’t get away with anything. Yet.”
A Georgia county opened a criminal investigation last week into efforts by Trump to pressure election officials in the state to overturn his defeat. New York district attorney is investigating financial dealings regarding his signature Manhattan properties, a probe that started two years ago with the payment of hush money by the Trump campaign. And the Southern District of New York has been investigating a non-public probe, according to Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen.
The House of Representatives had impeached Trump on January 13 on the solitary charge of inciting insurrection at the US Capitol on January 6, when a mob breached the seat of American democracy to prevent a joint session of Congress from verifying Biden’s election victory. vation, which he said was a global issue. Modi’s speech highlighting central schemes that have benefitted Tamil Nadu indicates that the BJP will adopt development as its main plank in the assembly elections due to take place in April-may. BJP chief JP Nadda affirmed the alliance with the AIADMK at a rally in Madurai on January 30.
Modi often quotes Tamil philosophers and poets at official functions on his visits to Tamil Nadu, his party’s defence against criticism that it is essentially a north Indian party. In January, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi attacked Modi, the BJP and its ideological mentor, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, for allegedly disrespecting Tamil people.
Modi announced that the Centre had accepted a demand by members of the Devendrakula Velalar community that they should be known by their heritage name, a day after a bill to modify the list of Scheduled Castes in Tamil Nadu was introduced in the Lok Sabha. The Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order (Amendment) Bill 2021, proposed by the state government, would group together seven castes to be known as the
Devendrakula Velalar. “I can never forget my meeting with representatives of the (community) in 2015 in Delhi,” Modi said. “Colonial rulers took away their pride and dignity... They told me they pleaded and pleaded with governments, but nothing changed. I told them one thing. I said that their name Devender rhymes with my own name – Narendra. I understand their emotions. This decision is more than a change of name. It is about justice, dignity and opportunity.”
Speaking on the longstanding problems faced by Tamil Nadu’s fishermen on the high seas, Modi said that during his tenure, more than 1,600 fishermen had been released after being apprehended by Sri Lanka. “Currently, there is no Indian fisherman in Sri Lankan custody,” he said.
He announced that the Jaffna Cultural Centre built by India would open soon. “The issue of Tamil rights has also been taken up by us consistently with Sri Lankan leaders,” Modi said. “Our government has always taken care of the welfare and aspirations of our Tamil brothers and sisters in Sri Lanka. It is my honour to have been the only Indian PM to visit Jaffna.”
The PM inaugurated a 9.05km Chennai Metro Rail Phase-i extension, completed at a cost of ₹3,770 crore. He also laid the foundation stone for two projects — the renovation of the Grand Anicut Canal System, crucial for irrigation in the delta districts, to be taken up at a cost of ₹2,640 crore, and a Discovery Campus to come up at the Indian Institute of Technology-madras for ₹1,000 crore in the first phase. “These projects are symbols of innovation and indigenous development. These projects will further the growth of Tamil Nadu,” Modi said.
After reaching the Chennai airport, Modi took a chopper and a convoy by road to reach the venue where he was welcomed by AIADMK and BJP cadre. He caught an aerial glimpse of the ongoing Test match between India and England in the city’s MA Chidambaram stadium, a picture of which he tweeted.
“Though it was an official visit, Modi subtly kickstarted his campaign by kindling Tamil pride,” said political commentator Sriram Seshadri. “He talked a lot about how Tamil Nadu is part of the national stream by contributing to national building and economic progress. It lays the foundation for the political message he wanted to convey to the masses ahead of his upcoming political visits.”
Modi will visit Coimbatore district on February 25, said BJP leader CT Ravi.
Opposition Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) president MK Stalin, at a public rally, criticised Modi for holding up Edappadi Palaniswami and O Pannerselvam’s hands at the end of the event. “Is this a political event? What is the Prime Minister trying to convey by holding the hands of corruption-tainted EPS and OPS,” Stalin said. effort to build trust and normalise relations. The decision-making authority in the PLA’S case is the Central Military Commission headed by President Xi Jinping, who is also the commander-inchief of China’s defence forces.
“The speed at which the PLA has moved its troops beyond Finger 8 on the north bank of Pangong Tso towards Srijap plains and beyond as well as withdrawal of no less than 220 Chinese light tanks from south banks of Pangong Tso clearly shows that the instructions have come from the highest level in Beijing,” said a former army chief. It is understood that Chinese disengagement is more or less complete on the north bank and the exercise on south banks is to move from the lake to the Kailash Range.
According to a top Indian diplomat, Beijing’s decision to disengage from Pangong Tso starting on February 10 was not because its military positions were not tenable but to stop the downward spiral in bilateral relations since former Western Theatre Commander, General Zhao Zongqi, went on aggressive mode at Pangong Tso last May. “China had invested a lot in removing the 1962 conflict from Indian memory by making deliberate efforts to improve bilateral relations. All this went for a toss last May and a new generation of Indians born in the new millennium has again witnessed the perfidy of PLA and mistrust with China. Perhaps the disengagement is part of an effort to stem the rapid slide in bilateral ties,” said a senior official.
According to senior military officers, Indian Army commanders raised the question of severe mistrust with their PLA counterparts, citing the continued friction at Naku La while the Pangong Tso disengagement agreement was reached on February 10. It is learnt that just to prove that the PLA was committed to genuine disengagement with the Indian Army, a battalion commander sought a meeting with his Indian counterpart at Naku La on the same day, assuring no further transgression from the Chinese side.
In the past six years, PLA patrols have tended to come down the ridge past the Indian perception of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Naku La area as a result of which there have been physical face-offs. Although the Chinese base is well behind the ridge line, the PLA in the past has made an effort to cross Naku La and reach a wall constructed by local Indian graziers.
“The face-off around Naku La has been a new development of past six years and any easing of tension bodes well for bilateral ties. Reports indicate that the PLA has gone back to its permanent base, a template used in disengagement in Galwan and Pangong Tso,” said the former army chief cited above.