The Senate voted to acquit President Donald John Trump on the first of two articles of impeachment. The vote was 52-48 for acquittal on the first article, for “abuse of power,” with only Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT), crossing party lines. Romney made history by becoming the first US Senator to vote to convict a president of his own party.
The vote was 53-47 for acquittal on the second article, for “obstruction of Congress,” with Romney voting “not guilty.”
The Chief Justice presided over the final vote, and after the clerk read each article of impeachment, each Senator stood in his or her place and responded “guilty” or “not guilty.”
With the “not guilty” vote of Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS), the president was acquitted of the first article, as he passed the 34-vote threshold necessary to defeat a two-thirds vote of those president, as required by the Constitution for conviction and removal.
Sen. Moran cast the decisive vote to acquit on the second article of impeachment as well.
Source: Breitbart
Full Video:
President Trump, commanding a triumphant scene at the White House complete with the playing of “Hail to the Chief,” railed against what he called an “evil” impeachment process on the following morning, hours after his historic acquittal in the Senate.
Greeted by thunderous applause and a standing ovation by his supporters, the president declared “we went through hell” but described the moment as a “celebration” — while maintaining as he did throughout the impeachment inquiry and trial that he “did nothing wrong.”
“It was evil. It was corrupt. It was dirty cops. It was leakers and liars. This should never, ever happen to another president, ever,” Trump said. “It was a disgrace.”
He detailed the timeline of investigations, remarking of the Russia probe: “It was all bulls—.”
And as he did earlier Thursday at a prayer breakfast, Trump brandished a copy of the day’s Washington Post with a blaring headline: “Trump acquitted.”
“We can take that home, honey. Maybe we’ll frame it,” he joked to first lady Melania Trump, saying that it was the “best” headline he’s ever received from the outlet.
In the final vote, all Democratic senators supported convicting the president of both articles, including swing-vote moderate Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., and Doug Jones, D-Ala.
The only party defection was on the abuse of power charge from Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, who declared hours before the final vote that Trump had engaged in as “destructive an attack on the oath of office and our Constitution as I can imagine.” Romney, though, voted not guilty on the obstruction charge.
Trump, in his impeachment trial, was accused of withholding aid to Ukraine as leverage to pressure the country to launch an investigation involving former Vice President Joe Biden and his family’s dealings there. Democrats alleged he abused his power to investigate a political rival, considering Biden’s 2020 presidential bid. Trump denied any quid pro quo and repeatedly described his conversations with Ukraine’s president as “perfect.”
“Now we have that gorgeous word, I never thought I’d hear it,” Trump said Thursday. “It’s called total acquittal.”
After a while, Thursday’s more than hour-long address shifted into a rhetorical high-fiving and back-slapping phase as Trump went around the room and began thanking Republican lawmakers.
Trump lauded Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., for his handling of the entire process.
“You did a fantastic job,” Trump said, joking about his reputation as a quiet and shrewd political operator. “He’s the greatest poker player, right?”
And he told House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy he’ll someday be speaker of the House.
The president went on to thank a number of House lawmakers, including Reps. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., Doug Collins, R-Ga., John Ratcliffe, R-Texas, and Matt Gaetz, R-Fla.
During another moment, the president joked with Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, touting his “incredible” voice, saying he has one “that scares people.”
And in a bizarre moment, he even called out Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, an adviser to his impeachment legal team, on his physique.
“When I first got to know Jim Jordan, I thought, huh, he never wears a jacket,” Trump said, touting Jordan’s college wrestling career. “What the hell’s going on. He’s very proud of his body.”
Trump then shifted to thank House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., who he said has become even more “handsome” since he was shot at a congressional baseball practice in 2017.
“Steve Scalise, I think you’re better looking now,” Trump said. “You weren’t that good looking, he looks better now. I don’t know what the hell that is!”
The president’s address Thursday comes after he literally waved his acquittal in Pelosi’s face. The president, at the National Prayer Breakfast just hours before his address, held up newspapers with “Acquitted” headlines mere feet from Pelosi.
The two have been sparring all week—notably Tuesday at his third State of the Union. Following his address, the speaker tore up the pages of his speech in full view of the cameras, shocking lawmakers.
“I don’t like people who use their faith as justification for doing what they know is wrong, nor do I like people who say ‘I pray for you’ when you know that is not so,” Trump said at the prayer breakfast. Pelosi had publicly said during the impeachment process that she and fellow Democrats were “prayerful” and that she prays for the president.
Following the breakfast Thursday, Pelosi fired back at Trump for his comments and his proud display of his acquittal.
“You’re impeached forever, you are never getting rid of that scar,” Pelosi declared at a press conference Thursday, even amid Trump’s victory lap.
“He shredded the truth with his speech, he’s shredding the Constitution with his conduct and I shredded his state of mind address,” she said.
But during Thursday’s speech, Trump said people like Pelosi, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., “want to destroy our country.”
He went on to thank his family and apologized to them.
“I want to apologize to my family for having to go through this phony, rotten deal,” he said, calling Ivanka to the podium and giving her a hug, and welcoming Melania Trump to the stage for a kiss.
“I just want to thank my family for sticking through it,” he said. “This was not part of the deal, if I was going to run for president..I didn’t know I was going to have to run again and again and again every single week, but they stuck with me.”
Holding Melania’s hand, the president added: “Our country is thriving. Our country is respected again, and it’s an honor to be with the people in this room, it’s an honor.”
Source: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-remarks
It may appear that the Democratic Party, furious over Hillary Clinton’s 2016 loss, is the driving force behind this ongoing attempt to remove Donald Trump from office, but at every turn we see the fingerprints of the CIA and its allies in the US deep state.
In August 2016, a former acting director of the CIA, Mike Morell, wrote an extraordinary article in the New York Times accusing Donald Trump of being an “agent of the Russian Federation.” Morell was clearly using his intelligence career as a way of bolstering his claim that Trump was a Russian spy – after all, the CIA should know such a thing! But the claim was a lie.
Former CIA director John Brennan accused President Trump of “treason” and of “being in the pocket of Putin” for meeting with the Russian president in Helsinki and accepting his word that Russia did not meddle in the US election. To this day there has yet to be any evidence presented that the Russian government did interfere. Brennan openly called on “patriotic” Republicans to act against this “traitor.”
Brennan and his deep state counterparts James Comey at the FBI and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper launched an operation, using what we now know is the fake Steele dossier, to spy on the Trump presidential campaign and even attempt to entrap Trump campaign employees.
Notice a pattern here?
Dr. Paul then points to the so-called whistleblower, Eric Ciaramella, who triggered the impeachment hearings, was a CIA officer assigned the White House. He had only 2nd hand information (dismissed as hearsay in any court of law), but the Intelligence Community Inspector General’s office changed the rules just days before the complaint by Ciaramella requiring that a whistleblower must have first hand knowledge only. President Trump release the full transcript of the call which proved no quid pro quo or wrongdoing, but the CIA and democrats persisted in their attempt to oust trump. With their failing propaganda machine of MSM, they weren’t able to brainwash the public as usual.
Ron Paul concludes:
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer once warned Trump that if “you take on the intelligence community, they have six ways from Sunday at getting back at you.” It’s hard not to ask whether this is a genuine impeachment effort…or a CIA coup!
