Photo Credit: Donald Trump/Instagram
In an unprecedented move, former President Donald Trump faced impeachment following the January 6th attack on the US Capitol. For the last 4 days newly released footage of the attack and a montage of words spoken by Trump on the day of the attack, juxtaposed with a timeline of him asking them to stop was played. And while all of this may have looked bad, he was ultimately acquitted by the Senate.
Senate Minority Leader McConnell said “There’s no question—none—that Pres. Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events” of January 6. “The people who stormed this building believed they were acting on the wishes and instructions of their president.” He ultimately chose not to vote to convict him saying that the Constitution didn’t allow for former officials to be convicted.
Sen. McConnell: “There’s no question—none—that Pres. Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events” of January 6.
“The people who stormed this building believed they were acting on the wishes and instructions of their president.” https://t.co/InnhdCZLiD pic.twitter.com/FOM9Yoz81S
— ABC News (@ABC) February 13, 2021
The final vote came down 57 guilty votes to 43 not guilty. A 2/3 majority would have been needed to convict and they were at about 57%. Amond Republicans who voted to convict were Collins, Burr, Cassidy, Romney, Murkowski, Sasse and Toomey. And while Donald Trump may not be on social media anymore, you can still count on him using his powers which as a former president and well connected figure to make the lives of each of those Senators lives hell. A statement was released from Trump that called this hearing a “witch hunt” again. He wrote “I also want to convey my gratitude to the millions of decent, hardworking, law-abiding, God-and-Country loving citizens who have bravely supported these important principles in these very difficult and challenging times.”
JUST IN: Former President Trump releases statement following acquittal on article of impeachment for “incitement of insurrection.” pic.twitter.com/BjlPr9qQCQ
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) February 13, 2021
From here on the former President is free to run for President again. My thoughts on this? The January 6th event was billed as a “Stop the Steal” event about stopping election fraud. This was election fraud that has yet to have been proven on a massive scale. This notion was pushed for several months despite numerous lost lawsuits. Historically when people feel that they have been cheated and their government is no longer working on their behalf, they generally go on to depose their government leaders. Look no further than the Freedom Fighters going from nation to nation in West Africa fighting to liberate people from various autocrats. The problem was that without a clear directive, the former President was not going to be convicted and that is what happened.
Now SDNY, standing for the Southern District of New York is trending on Twitter because that is who wil continue looking into his personal business over a number of decades. When he first announced running for president, knowing what sketchy business history he has, I was a bit surprised he was running for President because all that would do is call it all into light. And getting elected meant he would permanently be in the spotlight. Only God knows what can happen from here because he doesn’t have the nickname Teflon Don for nothing and there is plenty to go over from here. So at this point, may the games begin.
