Senate acquits President Trump

Photo courtesy of Gage Skidmore (CC BY-SA 2.0)

President Donald Trump was acquitted by the Senate on Feb. 5, 2020. He was acquitted on two charges: abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.

By Josie Berger, Editor-in-Chief

The Republican-controlled Senate acquitted President Trump on the impeachment charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. Although the votes for each charge were close (abuse of power 48-52, and obstruction of Congress: 47-53), the Senate declared Trump to be not guilty on these charges. The votes were almost exclusively cast along party lines, with the notable exception of Republican Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah, who voted against party lines for the first impeachment charge for abuse of power.

This trial marked the third impeachment in U.S. history. At the conclusion of the four month impeachment process, Trump delivered the State of the Union address on Feb. 4 and did not mention the impeachment at all. However, Trump later turned to twitter on Feb. 5, tweeting “VICTORY on the impeachment hoax.”

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Photo credit: “Donald Trump” by Gage Skidmore (flickr.com/photos/gageskidmore/49567390071)