Senators weighed in February 5, 2020 on whether they planned to vote to remove or not to remove Trump from office later in the day. After the Senate voted last week to bar new witness testimony and subpoenas for documents, Trump’s acquittal has seemed all but assured. No Republicans and not all Democrats in the House of Representatives voted to impeach President Trump in December 2019 on two articles of impeachment — abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
All Video Playlist: Trump impeachment Trial | Day 13 | February 5, 2020
Video 3: Senator John Cornyn’s full statement on Trump’s impeachment trial
Senator John Cornyn, R-Texas, said if Trump were convicted on the articles of impeachment brought by House Democrats, it would make the presidency “subservient to Congress” because the charges against Trump are too vague. Cornyn, who planned to vote to acquit Trump in a vote Wednesday, accused Democrats of failing to trust American voters and taking things into their own hands.
Video 4: Senator Josh Hawley’s full statement on Trump’s impeachment trial
Senator Josh Hawley, R-Mo, said his constituents are not focused on impeachment, but instead on the everyday struggles they face. “It is time to turn to a new politics of the people. To the politics of home,” Hawley said, explaining why he would vote to acquit President Donald Trump of two articles of impeachment. The freshman senator from Missouri said Congress has wasted too much time over the past few years on impeachment, rather than listening to the American people and addressing their concerns.
Video 5: Senator Lamar Alexander’s full statement on Trump’s impeachment trial
Senator Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., explained why he would vote to acquit President Donald Trump on Wednesday, despite believing the president withheld U.S. aid to Ukraine in an attempt to pressure that country to investigate his political rivals. “The question is not whether the president did it but whether the United States Senate or the American people should decide what to do about what he did. I believe that the Constitution clearly provides that the people should make that decision,” Alexander said, speaking on the Senate floor ahead of the impeachment vote. The Tennessee Republican was seen as a potential swing vote in whether to call witnesses in the trial. He voted with other GOP senators not to call witnesses, saying even if Trump was guilty of conducting a quid pro quo, it was not an impeachable offense.
Video 11: Senator Blunt’s full statement on Trump’s impeachment trial
Speaking on the Senate floor on Feb. 5, Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., explained why he would vote later that day to acquit President Donald Trump of two articles of impeachment. Blunt criticized the House Democrats’ handling of the impeachment inquiry, saying it was a partisan process.
Video 12: Senator Kevin Cramer’s full statement on Trump’s impeachment trial
Speaking on the Senate floor on Feb. 5, 2020 Senator Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., explained why he would vote later that day to acquit President Donald Trump of two articles of impeachment. Cramer said acquitting Trump would send a signal that the bar for impeachment and removal from office is “higher than one party’s petty obsession.”
Video 13: Senator Mike Lee’s full statement on Trump’s impeachment trial
Speaking on the Senate floor on Feb. 5, Senator Mike Lee, R-Utah, explained why he would vote later that day to acquit President Donald Trump of two articles of impeachment. Lee said Trump did withhold U.S aid to Ukraine as he tried to get the country to investigate Burisma, but said it wasn’t “criminal. It certainly isn’t impeachable. It’s not even wrong” because, Lee said, the president was trying to crack down on corruption.
Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith’s full statement on Trump’s impeachment trial
Speaking on the Senate floor on Feb. 5, 2020, Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., explained why she would vote later that day to acquit President Donald Trump of two articles of impeachment. “The founding fathers warned against allowing impeachment to become a political weapon. In this case, House Democrats crossed that line,” Hyde-Smith said.
Video 15: Senator James Risch’s full statement on Trump’s impeachment trial
Speaking on the Senate floor on Feb. 5, Senator Jim Risch, R-Idaho, explained why he would vote later that day to acquit President Donald Trump on two articles of impeachment. Risch accused House Democrats of omitting evidence during the impeachment trial and relying on “hearsay.”
Senator Tim Scott’s full statement on Trump’s impeachment trial | Trump impeachment trial
Speaking on the Senate floor on Feb. 5, 2020 Senator Tim Scott, R-S.C., explained why he would vote later that day to acquit President Donald Trump of the articles of impeachment. “Let’s vote no on these motions today and get back to working for the American people,” Scott said.
Video 24: Senator Mitt Romney’s full statement on Trump’s impeachment trial
Speaking on the Senate floor on Feb. 5, Senator Mitt Romney, R-Utah, announced he would break from his party and vote later that day to convict President Donald Trump of the articles of impeachment. “With my vote, I will tell my children and their children that I did my duty to the best of my ability, believing that my country expected it of me,” Romney said, adding that what the president did was “grievously wrong.” (Read More)
Video 26: Senator Cory Gardner’s full statement on Trump’s impeachment trial
Senator Cory Gardner, R-Colo., explained his reasoning for voting later in the day to acquit President Donald Trump of two articles of impeachment. Gardner argued the Senate should not remove a president during an election year and urged for an end to partisanship. “If we come together, we will succeed together,” Gardner said.
Video 27: Senator Richard Shelby’s full statement on Trump’s impeachment trial
Senator Richard Shelby, R-Ala., called the “extreme” effort by Democrats to unseat the president “unjustified and intolerant,” and that he did not believe the charges brought forth against Trump constitute an impeachable offense. Shelby said he would vote to acquit the president, and that it was “time to move on.” “At the end of the day…the ultimate judgment rests in [voters’] hands,” said Shelby.
Video 31: Senator Lindsey Graham’s full statement on Trump’s impeachment trial
Senator Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said when President Donald Trump is acquitted of the articles of impeachment, the American people would get to pick their own president, “not a bunch of politicians” driven by “sour grapes.” He called the impeachment process a “sham,” saying it unleashed “the partisan version of hell.” “If you can’t see through that, your hatred of Donald Trump has blinded you from the obvious,” Graham said. He called impeachment an assault on the presidency. “Be careful what you wish for because it’s going to come back your way,” Graham said in comments directed at the Democrats.
