Slammed over ‘sham’ impeachment bid

O Attempt concocted by Democrats ended in full vindication, exoneration of Trump, says White House

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump (pix) and the White House have angrily denounced Democrats, accusing them of launching a “sham” impeachment attempt, after the Senate voted to acquit the president of two charges and permitting him to concentrate his energies on re-election.

In a vote almost entirely along party lines, the upper chamber voted not to convict the president on two articles of impeachment that were passed by the House. The Senate voted to acquit him 52-48 on charges of abuse of power and 53-47 on obstruction of congress.

While Trump remains only the third president to be impeached by the House, the vote by the Senate means he can remain in the White House and seek a second term.

“The sham impeachment attempt concocted by Democrats ended in the full vindication and exoneration of President Donald J. Trump. As we have said all along, he is not guilty,” the White House said in a statement.

“The Senate voted to reject the baseless articles of impeachment, and only the president’s political opponents – all Democrats, and one failed Republican presidential candidate – voted for the manufactured impeachment articles.”

Republican Senator Mitt Romney, a longtime Trump foe, risked White House wrath to vote alongside Democrats on the first count, saying Trump was “guilty of an appalling abuse of public trust”. He voted not guilty on the second charge.

While the White House declared that Trump had obtained “full vindication and exoneration,” Nancy Pelosi, the House Speaker, warned that by clearing Trump, Republicans had “normalised lawlessness”.

“There can be no acquittal without a trial, and there is no trial without witnesses, documents and evidence,“said the top Democrat, who a day earlier ripped up her copy of Trump’s State of the Union address on live television.

“Sadly, because of the Republican Senate’s betrayal of the Constitution, the president remains an ongoing threat to American democracy, with his insistence that he is above the law and that he can corrupt the elections if he wants to.”

Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer said the acquittal was

“virtually valueless” since Republicans refused witnesses at his trial, something which Democrats said had never happened before at any impeachment trial. – Agencies