Senate Votes To Acquit Former President Trump In 2nd Impeachment Trial
(CBS NEWS) - The Senate voted 57-43 to acquit President Trump of inciting the January 6 riot in his second impeachment trial. While a majority — with seven Republicans joining the Democrats — voted to impeach him, Democrats failed to get the two-thirds majority needed to convict.
Earlier Saturday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced that a deal has been reached to skip witnesses in the impeachment trial of former President Trump, not long after a vote to call witnesses threw the Senate into chaos. A statement from Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler that led to the call for witnesses was read into the record rather than calling her to testify.
The 55-45 vote for witnesses included four Republicans who could vote to convict Mr. Trump: Senators Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Mitt Romney and Ben Sasse. And a fifth senator's position came as a surprise. Senator Lindsey Graham, a close Trump ally, changed his vote from "nay" to "yea" because he wanted the defense to call witnesses.