The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
⏩ State delegation reacts to Senate vote.
State’s congressional delegation reacts to acquittal of Trump
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate voted to acquit President Donald J. Trump in what was an emotional afternoon for Connecticut Democrats who supported the impeachment inquiry since it began.
U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., recounted the immense “weight” upon him as he rose twice to pronounce Trump “guilty” of both of articles of impeachment.
“I’ve never said that word in that kind of way, publicly, to pronounce judgment on anyone,” Blumenthal said. ‘I’ve never been a juror. I’ve prosecuted cases and I’ve asked juries to find people guilty, but I’ve never said that word let alone on the floor of the United States Senate.”
Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah, was the only Republican to cast a vote to convict Trump with Democrats. Romney voted guilty on the “abuse of power” article, but not guilty on the charge of “obstruction of Congress.”
Romney announced his decision on the Senate floor about two hours before the vote. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., who was in the chamber with Romney when he made his speech, was “choked up listening to him speak,” Murphy told reporters with a still quavering voice minutes after the speech ended.
“I think history will judge that to be one of the more important speeches of my time in the Senate,” Murphy said. “It’s the hardest thing to do in the world, to stand up to your party and your friends and your donors and just decide to do what’s right. I think we all wonder if we would make the same decision if we were in the same position.”
Blumenthal said he was “moved almost to tears” by Romney’s decision.
“His decision gives me hope,” said Blumenthal.
After the vote, Blumenthal approached another lawmaker who wrestled with the decision to convict or acquit: Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va. Blumenthal shook Manchin’s hand after the red-state Democrat cast two “guilty” votes.
“I told him I admired his courage and I was proud of him,” Blumenthal said. “We spoke a little about his decision and how he got there.”
The Congress and the public knew for months that the Senate lacked a two-thirds majority to support removing Trump from office.
Democratic Rep. Jim Himes, D-4, the first Connecticut lawmaker to support an impeachment inquiry, said Tuesday the proceeding still had an influence by sending a message.
“This has been a foregone conclusion from moment one, but I think it was really important to do,” Himes said. “I think it was important for the American people to hear the facts. I think it was important for the American people to hear Mitt Romney and see that this is not a purely partisan thing. And I think it is important to history that we be very clear that, on a bipartisan basis, we reject the president’s behavior. And yes, he was acquitted but most Republican senators said the behavior was unacceptable.”
Many Republicans have objected that the impeachment trial removed them from legislating on behalf of the American people.
White House Counselor Kellyanne Conway said Wednesday “What was the point?”
“Was this to make [Rep.] Adam Schiff more famous?” she asked, referring to the California Democrat who was the lead manager prosecuting the case against Trump.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., in a speech before the vote, criticized the trial as “a symptom” of Democrats’ unwillingness to accept the results of the 2016 election. He said Democrats were so partisan they now declared “broken” any function of government that produced a policy or political outcome they disagreed with.”
“There is no sign this attack on our institutions will end here,” McConnell said. “This is precisely the kind of recklessness the Senate was created to stop.”
Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., defended his caucus saying he was “very proud” of them. Schumer added that without new witnesses and documents included in the trial, there was a “giant asterisk next to the president’s acquittal.” He called the acquittal “virtually valueless.”
Trump is expected to speak about the vote on Thursday.
White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham said the vote indicated the “full vindication and exoneration” of Trump.
“As we have said all along, he is not guilty,” Grisham said. “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.”
Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-3, countered Tuesday the president’s acquittal made a mockery of the American system of checks and balances.
“Nearly 232 years ago, our founders set up a system of checks and balances, separation of powers, and rule of law so that no person would be above the law — including the president of the United States,” DeLauro said. “Today, without a single witness called, President Donald J. Trump succeeded in upending that system by breaking the law and getting away with it with the consent of the Senate. Sadly, the vast majority of my Republican colleagues in the House and Senate put their party above their oath to uphold the Constitution.”
When asked her thoughts on the Senate vote, Rep. Jahana Hayes, D-5, said simply, “We did our job. We did our job in the House.”
With the vote behind them, Connecticut’s senators said Wednesday evening they had the future on their minds.
“My worry has been that whether the number was 48 or 50 or 57, if you didn’t remove him from office, he would continue to try to corrupt it,” Murphy said.
“And that remains my worry today. I’m just not sure the president is going to change and I think that’s a real risk for our democracy.”
Blumenthal said it was “imperative” that Democratic and Republican senators find a way to come together to address the nation’s issues.
But after weeks of battles duing the trial and a controversial
State of the Union address, bridging a jagged partisan rift was work for another day. Blumenthal had a television hit Wednesday night and then headed home to his house in Washington, at last, for dinner and bed, he said.
“I’m going to try to get some sleep,” Blumenthal said, “which I have not been getting in the amount that I need.”