Published 03:25 IST, February 6th 2020
Donald Trump acquitted of all impeachment charges by US Senate
The historic vote took place on Wednesday morning and cleared the President on all charges which will allow the President to keep his office.
United States President Donald Trump has been acquitted of all charges on both articles of impeachment by the US Senate, ending a long and controversial trial on Wednesday (local time). The result means that President Trump will remain in office for the rest of his term as the President and will fight for a second term during the Presidential elections which will be held in November this year.
President Trump was facing impeachment charges on two Articles - abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. He was acquitted 52-48 on the first article of impeachment and 53-47 on the second article of impeachment. He was impeached by the US House of Representatives in December. Two-thirds of “guilty” votes would have been needed to convict and remove Trump from office.
Wednesday's outcome followed months of remarkable impeachment proceedings, from Speaker Nancy Pelosi's House to Mitch McConnell's Senate, reflecting the nation's unrelenting partisan divide three years into the Trump presidency.
What started as Trump's request for Ukraine to “do us a favor” spun into a far-reaching, 28,000-page report compiled by House investigators accusing an American president of engaging in shadow diplomacy that threatened US foreign relations for personal, political gain as he pressured the ally to investigate Democratic rival Joe Biden ahead of the next election. No president has ever been removed by the Senate.
Only one Republican, 2012 Presidential candidate Mitt Romney voted to convict the President. The Utah Senator announced his decision hours before the voting took place. In an eight-minute-long speech, Romney said that he believed that what the President did was "very wrong" and that he was following his conscience."
President Trump and his son, Donald Trump Jr. later posted multiple tweets slamming Romney. The Trump campaign to reelect him to the White House used the result to increase donation drives. Soon after the acquittal, President Trump tweeted that he will be addressing the nation on Thursday at noon to deliver his remarks on the trial.
Updated 09:21 IST, February 6th 2020