Christal Hayes
, 
Nicholas Wu
, 
Bart Jansen
, 
William Cummings
 
| USA TODAY

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Trump impeachment trial vote is in, Trump is acquitted once again

The Trump impeachment trial vote acquitted him for a second time, in a vote of 57-43 with seven Republicans crossing the aisle and judging him guilty.

USA TODAY

A day after former President Donald Trump was acquitted by the Senate on an impeachment charge of inciting the Capitol riots of Jan. 6, Republican and Democratic senators called for a bipartisan commission to investigate and issue a report on the riot, similar to the one drafted in response to the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. 

During an interview on ABC News’ “This Week,” Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., said Sunday that while the House impeachment managers had laid out “an incredibly compelling and powerful case” against Trump, “there’s still more evidence that the American people need and deserve to hear and a 9/11 Commission is a way to make sure that we secure the Capitol going forward.”

Coons said it was important to “lay bare the record of just how responsible and how abjectly violating of his constitutional oath President Trump really was.” 

“I think there should be a complete investigation about what happened on 1/6,” Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., said on “This Week.” 

Cassidy – one of seven Senate Republicans to vote for Trump’s conviction – said it was important to learn “why was there not more law enforcement,” why the National Guard was not already mobilized, as well as “what was known, who knew it, and when they knew it.” 

“Because that builds the basis so this never happens again in the future,” Cassidy said. 

“We need a 9/11 commission to find out what happened and make sure it never happens again,” agreed Sen. Lindsey Graham. He told “Fox News Sunday” host Chris Wallace he wanted “to make sure that the Capitol footprint can be better defended next time.” 

The senators’ calls for a bipartisan probe into the Capitol riot come after the heads of the 9/11 Commission – former Republican New Jersey Gov. Tom Kean and former Democratic Rep. Lee Hamilton of Indiana – sent a letter to President Joe Biden and congressional leaders recommending a new independent commission to investigate the events of Jan. 6. 

When asked if he favored such a commission, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” that he thought it was important to “make sure that the Soviet-style revisionists on the Republican side” who tried to blame the Jan. 6 attack on leftist antifa provocateurs were clearly refuted. But he thought that task had already been effectively accomplished by the House impeachment managers led by Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., during the Senate impeachment trial. 

“Raskin and the House managers made that record with clarity,” Durbin said. “Even Mitch McConnell acknowledged that last night in his speech, so we have that record. And that’s the important historic record to show this generation of doubters, and any future generation.” 

– William Cummings

Biden to engage G7 leaders in virtual meeting

President Joe Biden is set to join a virtual meeting of the Group of Seven, commonly known as the G7, on Friday. The group of major industrialized democracies coordinates on issues of economics, national security and geopolitics.

“President Biden will focus on a global response to the COVID pandemic, including coordination on vaccine production, distribution, and supplies, as well as continued efforts to mobilize and cooperate against the threat of emerging infectious diseases by building country capacity and establishing health security financing,” read a statement from the White House released Sunday. 

In addition to the United States, members include Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom. Biden’s appearance will be his first with the G7 world leaders since taking office.

The statement said Biden would also discuss the “need to make investments to strengthen our collective competitiveness and the importance of updating global rules to tackle economic challenges such as those posed by China.” 

The administration has taken steps to assure its allies in the G7 that it is recommitting to global cooperation after the more unilateral approach followed under President Donald Trump. On Friday, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told a meeting of G7 leaders that “the time to go big is now,” signaling the administration is committed to major fiscal stimulus to counter the economic fallout of the pandemic.

– Matthew Brown

House mangers defend decision not to call witnesses

Impeachment managers in the Senate trial of former President Donald Trump on Sunday defended their decision not to call witnesses.

Del. Stacey Plaskett of the U.S. Virgin Islands, confirmed on CNN’s “State of the Unions” that the managers were told calling witnesses, a move that could have dragged the trial on for weeks or months, could have cost them the support of one or more of the seven Republicans who ended up voting to convict. 

Host Jake Tapper said a Democratic senator told him that if the trial was not concluded quickly, they would lose GOP senators, such as Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina. 

“We heard that,” Plaskett said, adding she agreed it was “possible” the time required to gather witness testimony would have weakened the little GOP support they had. 

But Plaskett denied that concern factored into their decision to reach a compromise that allowed the addition of a statement from Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Wash., into the trial record without having to depose her. 

When Tapper asserted that witnesses “might have made the case more compelling,” Plaskett quickly interjected to ask him if he thought they would have convinced any more senators to convict. When Tapper acknowledged he didn’t know, Plaskett flashed a dubious expression. 

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., agreed the impeachment managers “might have lost votes if they had moved forward with a week or two or three weeks of argument over witnesses.” 

“They weren’t going to get any more Republican votes than they had,” Murphy told CNN. “I think they made the right decision to move to closing arguments.” 

Before Saturday, the impeachment managers had indicated they did not intend to call witnesses, arguing they had made their case without them. But after Herrera Beutler issued a statement Friday saying that Trump had rebuffed a plea from House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to urge the rioters to stop, Raskin made an unexpected request to depose her. 

– William Cummings

Graham: McConnell’s speech blasting Trump will haunt GOP in 2022

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Sunday he thought Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s speech blasting former President Donald Trump would be used against Republicans in campaign ads next year when the party fights to reclaim the Senate.

“He got a load off his chest, obviously, but unfortunately he put a load on the back of Republicans,” Graham, a staunch Trump defender, told Fox News Sunday. “That speech you will see in 2022 campaigns.”

Although McConnell, R-Ky., voted for acquittal, he said Trump’s “crescendo of conspiracy theories” and false claims of a stolen election led to the riots in which his supporters rampaged through Capitol, bloodied police, tried to hunt down House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and chanted about murdering Vice President Mike Pence.

“They did this because they had been fed wild falsehoods by the most powerful man on earth because he was angry he had lost an election,” McConnell said. “Former President Trump’s actions preceded the riot for a disgraceful dereliction of duty.”

Graham said he viewed McConnell’s speech as “an outlier regarding how Republicans feel about all this.”

– Bart Jansen

Democrats, GOP look to move on after Trump acquittal

The impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump is over and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle said they hope to move forward, concentrating on the plethora of competing crises in the country.

Trump was acquitted in a 57-43 vote Saturday of inciting an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol last month. The Senate trial was historic, marking the first time a president had been impeached and tried twice, and the vote marked the most bipartisan push for conviction of a president in U.S. history, with seven Republicans joining all Democrats to convict.

Democrats had argued that before the country and members of Congress could heal and move forward, Trump needed to be held accountable through the impeachment process. Now, they say, the country can move forward. And there’s a lot to focus on, including the still raging COVID-19 pandemic and economic downturn.

Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., who led the House impeachment prosecution team, said his focus would now be on the future. “From here,” he said, “it’s time for us to get back to real democracy.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said the House would be moving “forward to make sure that this never happens again” and would “investigate and evaluate what caused this” in terms of the motivation of the rioters who stormed the building and of the security at the Capitol.

Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., said in a statement now that impeachment was done, “it’s time to get back to work.” Fellow Republican Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas agreed, saying he hoped the end of this process would “allow temperatures to finally settle and for us to work in a bipartisan fashion moving forward.”

“It’s true, we face many challenges ahead as a nation. But, I remain confident there are brighter days ahead,” he added. “It’s time for Congress to get back to the work of the American people.”

Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., agreed and argued that even while Congress and the country was officially turning the page on the Trump presidency with Saturday’s acquittal vote, Congress still had to do its oversight work of his four years in office.

“As much as I’d like to turn the page from the disgraceful Trump era, Congress still must perform its investigative and oversight responsibilities to determine all the facts and uncover evidence that has been concealed,” he said.

What’s next after Trump acquittal?

WASHINGTON – The question on everyone’s lips after the Senate voted Saturday to acquit former President Donald Trump was: What now?

The riot Jan. 6 at the Capitol revealed festering, violent anger over national politics. The House charged Trump with inciting the insurrection that left five dead. But while a majority of the Senate voted to convict, it fell short of the two-thirds majority required to convict, which would have allowed the Senate to bar him from future office.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, one of seven Republicans who joined Democrats in voting against Trump, worried about the hatred over politics.

“The country is divided,” said Murkowski, who won a write-in campaign after losing in the Republican primary. “And the country has chosen sides in a way that, as we can see, can be very aggressive and can lead to violence.”

More: McConnell says Trump’s ‘crescendo of conspiracy theories’ caused Capitol riot

An open question is how much Trump will loom over the Republican Party while out of office. He thanked his supporters shortly after the Senate verdict and vowed to continue in politics.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., voted to acquit Trump. But then he assailed the former president in a Senate speech as “practically and morally responsible” for the violence of Jan. 6.

“They did this because they had been fed wild falsehoods by the most powerful man on Earth because he was angry he had lost an election,” McConnell said.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., called McConnell “pathetic” for not holding a trial sooner and helping convict Trump. The dispute signals continued division as the House and Senate negotiate President Joe Biden’s proposal to spend $1.9 trillion in relief for the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Tragically, Senate Republicans who voted not to convict chose to abandon the Constitution, the country and the American people with this vote,” Pelosi said.

Murkowski still has the riot gear at her office in the Capitol, which was near windows where the mob burst through on Jan. 6. The hall was strewn with trash after the attack. She heard a police officer retching in the bathroom after getting sprayed with pepper spray. She finds herself discouraged with the current state of politics.

“Politics is rough and tumble and we understand that. And I’d love to think that we can argue back and forth about the merits of whether or not we need to increase the minimum wage or what we need to do on trade policy.” Murkowski said. “Let’s argue it, let’s debate it. Let’s have wins, let’s have losses. But let’s stop this hatred. Let’s stop trying to denigrate the other side so that we can gain the advantage. Let’s just talk about our good ideas.”

– Bart Jansen

Democratic impeachment managers defend decision not to call more witnesses

WASHINGTON – House Democratic lawmakers leading the impeachment case against former President Donald Trump defended their decision not to call more witnesses despite the Senate’s vote earlier Saturday to allow witness testimony.

In a press conference following the Senate’s vote to acquit Trump, Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., one of the lead lawmakers presenting the case, said more witness testimony would not have convinced Republicans.

More: Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler would have ‘testified under oath,’ spokesman says

“We could have 500 witnesses and it would not have overcome the kinds of arguments being made by Mitch McConnell and other Republicans,” he said.

“I made the call,” he said. “So if you want to blame somebody (it would be me).”

– Nicholas Wu

Biden says all Americans must ‘defend the truth’

President Joe Biden is responding to the acquittal of Donald Trump by stating that all Americans, especially the nation’s leaders, have a duty and responsibility “to defend the truth and to defeat the lies.”

Biden says that in doing so, “that is how we end this uncivil war and heal the very soul of our nation. That is the task ahead. And it’s a task we must undertake together.”

The new president also says “that violence and extremism has no place in America.”

The White House issued Biden’s statement late Saturday night, several hours after the Senate failed to muster the two-thirds vote needed to convict Trump of incitement in the attack on the U.S. Capitol. The 57-43 vote included seven members of Trump’s own Republican Party.

In looking back on the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and Trump’s role in it, Biden says “this sad chapter” in American history is a reminder that democracy is fragile and must always be defended. He also says that the nation “must be ever vigilant.”

– Associated Press

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