Impeachment Trial Ends

On Wednesday, Feb. 5, the Republican-controlled Senate acquitted Donald Trump of two impeachment charges. This marked the end of the third presidential impeachment trial in American history. No president has ever been removed by the Senate.

The vote for the first article, abuse of power, was 52-48 for acquittal. The second article, obstruction of Congress, was 53-47 also bringing acquittal. Two-thirds of the senators would have had to vote “guilty” to reach the bar set by the Constitution to remove Trump from office. All Democrats voted guilty. 

The trial had run mostly along partisan lines, with the exception of Republican Sen. Mitt Romney breaking with his party. Romney voted to convict Trump for abusing presidential powers, the only Republican to do so. All Democrats voted to convict Trump on both counts of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. 

The impeachment inquiry began with Trump’s request for Ukraine to “do us a favor” and investigate Democratic rival Joe Biden, before becoming a 28,000-page report accusing him of engaging in shadow diplomacy for personal political gain. 

Associated Press contributed reporting. Contact Kyle de la Fuente at kdelafuente@scu.edu or Emma Pollans at epollans@scu.edu.