He’ll vote to convict Trump of abuse of power.
Sen. Mitt Romney, in a stunning turn, has announced that he’ll be voting to convict the president on one article of impeachment: abuse of power.
The Utah Republican’s announcement stands in stark contrast with every other member of the Republican conference, who have signaled that they intend to acquit President Donald Trump on both articles. Romney was also one of just two Republicans to vote in favor of considering more witnesses for the trial last week, alongside Sen. Susan Collins.
“What [the president] did was not perfect. It was a flagrant assault on our electoral rights, our election security and our fundamental values,” he said on the Senate floor Wednesday afternoon.
Still, the decision is a shocking one. Collins — and fellow moderates who did not vote to call witnesses like Lamar Alexander — argued that Trump’s decision to condition military aid to Ukraine on the country announcing investigations into one of his political opponents was wrong, but not worthy of impeachment and removal. Romney’s opposite conclusion makes the vote to convict Trump a bipartisan one, unlike the House vote on the articles of impeachment, when not a single Republican voted in favor of them.
Romney, will not vote to convict, however, on the second article: obstruction of Congress.
Democrats, meanwhile, could potentially still see two of their own — Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema — defecting to vote with Republicans. Both lawmakers come from states that Trump won in 2016, where impeachment remains unpopular among Republicans and Independents.
Author: Li Zhou
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