As expected, the United States Senate acquitted
former President Donald Trump on impeachment charges last Saturday.
Seven Republicans joined 48 Democrats and two independents in support of convicting
Trump, making it 57-43, ten votes shy of the 67 needed. Trump was charged with
inciting the January
6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, and not trying to stop the carnage.
The seven Republican votes made it the most bipartisan impeachment trial in U.S. history.
Though
House impeachment managers put on a brilliant case, Republicans fearful of a back-lash from the Trump base, ignored the evidence and acquitted him, leaving Trump still eligible for public office.
Many GOP senators hid behind the discredited jurisdiction rationale – the idea the Senate couldn’t convict a
former president since he’d already left office. Senate
Republican Leader Mitch
McConnell relied on
that rationale in justifying his own acquittal vote,
despite admitting the House managers proved their case. The no jurisdiction
theory flew in the face of established precedent and the plain text of the
constitution. The idea, however, provided enough of a fig leaf that Republicans
exonerated Trump with the semblance of a straight face.
Even some progressives, knowing the
likely outcome, asked why the senate
bothered with the trial. They said it
distracted from
President
Joe Biden’s agenda (time will tell about that) and put Trump in the
spotlight when the country should move on to other things. With all due respect
to such views, we saw at least five reasons the senate proceeded as it should
have:
The riveting presentations by the House managers – tightly
scripted, efficient, and brimming with new video evidence – showed the United
States values democracy and the rule of law. An effort at holding Trump
accountable for the January 6 insurrection mattered more in terms of preserving
basic principles of our system than outcome. Besides, the chance of bringing
Trump to justice hasn’t passed. He still faces criminal investigations,
including a
new one by a prosecutor in Georgia over his attempts at reversing the election
outcome in that state. Trump’s impeachment lawyers seemingly invited
criminal prosecution as an alternative to conviction in the senate, as did
McConnell. We’re not
reticent about seeing a former president found guilty of criminal charges thrown
in jail. If the Secret
Service must learn how it guards a protectee in prison, so be it.
(2) A Nation Watching
We won’t know the full impact of the trial on public opinion for a little
while. As it began, most polls showed a narrow majority in favor of conviction,
52-48 in several surveys. Those polls didn’t fully reflect the effect of the
prosecution’s case. We can’t imagine the horrendous scenes of assaults on police
officers and lawmakers and Vice President Mike Pence running for
their lives didn’t change some minds. Republicans who 
voted ‘no’ presumably are
betting whatever negative effects the trial had on their party will fade. Maybe, but we can already envision Democratic
consultants screening the video for use in television and internet ads against
Republicans in future campaigns. Is this really what Americans want from their
leaders? Republicans who decided they
couldn’t cross Trump and his supporters may find themselves in disfavor with
other voters in coming elections, even if they survive dreaded primary
challenges.
(3) A World Watching
Whatever the public reaction in this country, the fact the trial
happened should have helped
America’s tattered reputation around the globe.
The United States is making an international comeback, having rejoined the Paris Climate Accord
and the World
Health Organization. The new president’s effort at controlling the virus
should help show the U.S. as a responsible world citizen again. Holding the
trial demonstrated to countries around the world we will at least try drawing
lines at abhorrent behavior by our presidents. We will use our institutions in
service of protecting our values, even if we fail.
(4) We Care
Going forward with the trial demonstrated a level of concern about doing the
right thing, even if we didn’t get the right outcome. The trial was as much for the history
books as for today. No one 100 years from now can say we just didn’t care when
a lawless president incited an armed insurrection aimed at overturning the
outcome of a free and fair election and preventing a peaceful transition of
power. No, it didn’t turn out right, but we tried, and posterity will take note
of that.
(5) Trials and Truth
Trials are not perfect vehicles for
arriving at truth, but they’re better than most anything else this society or
any other has for achieving that goal. As a result of hearing and seeing the
difference between the exquisite presentations
by the House managers and the
disjointed, angry, sometimes unintelligible offerings by Trump’s overmatched
lawyers, Americans got a clear picture of what’s true and what’s not. Anyone
who watched any significant part of the proceedings understands exactly what
happened on January 6 and the implications of that tragic event.
All three of us tried lawsuits during our legal careers and
one of us presided over hundreds of them as a judge. We know firsthand how the presentation of conflicting
stories helps clarify an
event and reveals the truth as best we can ascertain it. The second impeachment trial of Donald J. Trump served that function for the American people, an exercise
they very much needed.
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