Why Idaho’s Risch, Crapo say they voted against convicting Trump
As expected, Idaho’s two U.S. senators voted Saturday to acquit former President Donald J. Trump in the Senate trial caused by the House’s impeachment. Both Republicans alleged that the impeachment was inappropriate.
“This week’s trial was unconstitutional,” said Sen. Mike Crapo in a statement. “The House’s impeachment proceeding blatantly violated established guarantees of due process.
“Furthermore, the plain text of the Constitution limits impeachment to current civil officers of the United States ... Private citizens are subject to accountability for their actions under our legal justice system. We must not dismiss the foundational tenets of our Constitution, particularly in the head of the deep divisions we face in America.”
Said Sen. Jim Risch, also in a statement: “The purpose of the constitutional authority of impeachment is to remove the president from office. The person Democrats attempted to impeach was no longer in office. The United States Senate has no jurisdiction over a private citizen, and thus impeachment was and is impossible.
“It’s time we stop the political hate and vitriol and move forward wiser and stronger just as America has countless times before.”
The Senate voted 57-43 in favor of convicting Trump, who was impeached by the Democratic-controlled House, which accused him of inciting the Jan. 6 riot by a mob of Trump supporters at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. Seven Republicans joined all of the Senate’s 50 Democrats in voting to convict him, but conviction required 67 votes, a two-thirds majority.
Trump refused to concede that he had lost the November election to Democrat Joe Biden, and he urged supporters multiple times to “fight” to “stop the steal” and keep him in the presidency.
This story was originally published February 13, 2021 at 3:21 PM.
