On February 5, 2020 the impeachment trial came to a conclusion as President Trump was acquitted by the Senate on two charges: abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. This has been the third presidential impeachment in American history, in addition to the trial’s of Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton. No impeachment has ever led to removal of a president from office.
The Senate was unable to pass a majority for the articles to pass, which would require 67 votes. As reported by the New York Times, the first article received 48 votes, and the second received 47. All democrat and independent senators voted guilty for both Article I and Article II. The 48th vote came from a historical move by Republican Senator Mitt Romney of Utah.
Beyond being the only Republican Senator to vote to convict President Trump in the current trials– Mitt Romney has become the only Senator ever to vote to convict a president of his own party.
Romney cited his faith as a motivator in his speech on the Senate floor, “As a senator-juror, I swore an oath before God to exercise impartial justice. I am profoundly religious. My faith is at the heart of who I am. I take an oath before God as enormously consequential. I knew from the outset that being tasked with judging the president, the leader of my own party, would be the most difficult decision I have ever faced. I was not wrong.”
Romney explained his ‘yes’ vote on Article I: Abuse of Power, “It was a flagrant assault on our electoral rights, our national security and our fundamental values. Corrupting an election to keep oneself in office is perhaps the most abusive and destructive violation of one’s oath of office that I can imagine.”
Trump fired back on Thursday via Twitter, “Had failed presidential candidate @MittRomney devoted the same energy and anger to defeating a faltering Barack Obama as he sanctimoniously does to me, he could have won the election. Read the Transcripts.”