‘A low point in our history’
N.M. Sens. Udall, Heinrich blast impeachment trial
When it was finally over, U.S. Sen. Tom Udall couldn’t hide his frustration.
“Failing to hold the president accountable is irresponsible by any standard,” Udall said in an interview with The New Mexican shortly after the Republican-controlled Senate voted Wednesday to acquit President Donald Trump on two articles of impeachment. “We just failed to hold a fair and honest impeachment trial. This is certainly a low point in our history.”
Though the vote — 52-48 to acquit Trump on abuse of power; 53-47 to acquit on obstruction of Congress — seemed all but assured in the days leading up to Wednesday’s climax, Udall and New Mexico Sen. Martin Heinrich, both Democrats,
delivered scathing criticism of how the impeachment trial ended. Both voted to convict Trump. An acquittal, Heinrich said, does not mean Trump is innocent.
“President Donald Trump has proven to be unfit for the office he occupies,” Heinrich said in a statement. “He abused his powers and continues to engage in a cover-up. He presents a clear and present danger to our national security and,
more fundamentally, to our democracy.”
Some Republicans acknowledged Trump’s actions in withholding aid to Ukraine to pressure its president into investigating political rival Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden were wrong, but they contended they weren’t impeachable offenses.
From the start, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called the impeachment effort a partisan show and vowed he would treat it as such. He drew the ire of Democrats and other critics when he conferred with White House attorneys and helped draft rules that favored Trump.
The most glaring example of GOP leaders thwarting an impartial hearing was blocking witnesses and documents from the departments of Energy and Defense and the Office of Management and Budget, Udall said.
“The most important thing for us in holding a trial is doing a thorough job,” Udall said. “They made a mockery of that.”
This was the first Senate trial in which a witness was never called, Udall said, adding the average number of witnesses who testify in such trials is 33.
Udall said he had been optimistic Republicans would allow at least the four key witnesses Democrats wanted to present, one of whom was former national security adviser John Bolton, who reportedly described in a book manuscript how Trump froze military aid that Ukraine needed in its six-year war against Russian-backed separatist rebels.
The attempt to call witnesses was shot down in a 51-49 vote.
That prevented prosecutors from using witnesses to rebut a key White House contention that there’s no direct evidence of Trump acting unlawfully, Udall said.
“For the White House counsel team to argue no firsthand evidence exists and then deny us the opportunity to get firsthand evidence is outrageous,” he said. “When you look after it has all ended, there was a cover-up.”
The truth, Udall concluded, will come out eventually and history will show impeachment was justified.
Heinrich agreed with the basic sentiment.
“Despite the outcome of the vote today, and the danger I fear it will bring about, I will never lose hope in what America stands for,” Heinrich said. “‘We The People,’ not any king or dictator, still hold immense power in this nation. It is up to all of us now to wield that power.”