The former American President was acquitted on Saturday, February 13, by the Senate which did not gather enough votes to have him condemned. 57 senators voted for a guilty verdict and 43 against. The two-thirds majority needed for the conviction was therefore not reached.
The second impeachment trial of Donald Trump, which began on 9 February, ended on 13 February with a second acquittal. “It’s time to wrap up this political charade,” said Michael van der Veen, a member of the former President’s pool of lawyers. “No matter how terrible the images of the rioters we see, and the level of emotion injected into this trial, it does not change the fact that Mr. Trump is innocent of the charges brought against him.Estimating, based on the evidence you’ve seen, that Mr. Trump really wanted, and in fact deliberately provoked an armed insurgency to overthrow the U.S. government, would be absurd,” he added.
Donald Trump is thus the only president in history who has been indicted twice, he is also the only one to have been acquitted twice. “It can be a rallying cry that he has been targeted by the left and the press in an unjust manner,” said former Democrat and teacher at American University, Capri Cafaro.
Reacting to the Senate’s verdict, Donald Trump seemed to be setting a date for the future. “Our beautiful, historic and patriotic movement, Make America Great Again, is just beginning,’ he said.
For his part, the leader of the Democratic majority in the Senate Chuck Shumer attacked the Republican elected who voted for the acquittal of Donald Trump. “The vast majority of Republican elected officials, including their leader, voted to acquit former President Trump, leaving their signatures in the columns of history, alongside his name, forever. January 6 will remain as a day of infamy in the history of the United States of America. The failure of Donald Trump’s conviction will remain a shameful vote in the history of the US Senate. In this trial, it was not about choosing your country over your party. Not even. It was about choosing your country over Donald Trump. And 43 Republican senators chose Trump. It should be a weight on their conscience today, and it will be a weight on their conscience in the future,” he said.
US President Joe Biden, reacting to the House of Representatives verdict, said: “Even if the final vote did not result in a conviction, the substance of the accusation is not contested.This sad chapter in our history has reminded us that democracy is fragile. It must always be defended. That we must always remain vigilant; democracy is fragile.”
