'Trump Violated His Oath Of Office': Minn. Politicians Speak Out Following 2nd Impeachment Acquittal
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO/CBS News) -- The Senate voted to acquit former President Donald Trump of inciting the January 6 riot at the Capitol in his second impeachment trial. Seven Republicans joined all Democrats in voting guilty for a majority of 57 votes, but Democrats failed to get the two-thirds majority needed to convict.
Both Minnesota Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith voted to convict Trump of incitement charges in the wake of the Jan. 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters as Congress was voting to affirm the results of President Joe Biden's election win.
A number of Minnesota politicians responded to Trump's second impeachment acquittal Saturday afternoon.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D):
Sen. Tina Smith (D):
"The facts and the evidence were overwhelming—former President Donald Trump lied for months to his supporters, summoned them to Washington, and incited a violent insurrection against our government and our democracy. I voted to convict because no reasonable person could believe this would have happened without his betrayal."
Rep. Betty McCollum (D):
"The House impeachment managers did their jobs effectively by presenting a mountain of evidence, horrific video footage, and Donald Trump's own incendiary words far in excess of what is necessary to hold him accountable for instigating the insurrection. The American people have no doubt with the evidence presented that as President of the United States, Donald Trump lied about a stolen election. He inspired his supporters to believe the lie and provoked a violent and deadly insurrection against Congress's constitutional duty of certifying the election of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Donald Trump violated his oath of office, he used the Office of the President of the United States to rally a mob of domestic terrorists, and he has betrayed one of the cornerstones of our democracy – the peaceful transfer of power. Today, dozens of Donald Trump's followers sat in the U.S. Senate as jurors and guaranteed his acquittal. This elevates the dangers we face as a nation and the threat to our democracy that they put allegiance to the Trump party over their constitutional responsibility.
"The attack on the U.S. Capitol and the interference in Congress's duty to certify the election was a dark and dangerous episode that demands the U.S. Department of Justice fully investigate, secure indictments, and seek convictions in a federal court of all involved, including Donald Trump. This is the only way to restore the rule of law in our nation, remove this stain from our democracy, and keep it strong."
Trump issued a statement Saturday afternoon thanking his legal team, as well as the Republicans in the Senate who found him not guilty and GOP House members who voted against the article of impeachment last month. He did not acknowledge the riot in his statement.
"This has been yet another phase of the greatest witch hunt in the history of our Country," Trump said. "No president has ever gone through anything like it, and it continues because our opponents cannot forget the almost 75 million people, the highest number ever for a sitting president, who voted for us just a few short months ago."
The Republicans who joined with the Democrats were: Richard Burr of North Carolina, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mitt Romney of Utah, Ben Sasse of Nebraska and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania.]
Earlier in the day, prior to the vote, Sen. Tina Smith shared a photo showing her wearing two different shoes, with the caption: "Think I had a lot on my mind this morning."
