WASHINGTON – With seven Republican senators siding with Democrats, former President Donald Trump was acquitted of inciting the January 6 riot on the Capitol.
“Donald Trump incited an insurrection on the Capitol and a blatant attack on our democracy — but today 43 Republican Senators gave him a free pass.
We will not forget what happened on January 6th. And we will not forget the votes cast today,” Democrat Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer said following the vote.
New York’s other senator, Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand, said the vote left “a stain” on the nation. “The evidence is irrefutable. For months, President Trump laid the groundwork for the insurrection, actively promoting conspiracy theories about election fraud to his supporters. On January 6th, he incited violence against Congress and his own vice president. Finally, even as his violent supporters stormed the Capitol, causing untold destruction and several deaths, President Trump refused to take action to protect members of Congress, the vice president, Capitol Police and law enforcement officers, staff and those working in the Capitol.
Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney, (D, NY-18) said, “Senate Republicans failed to stand with the American people and uphold their oath to the Constitution, instead siding with a dangerous QAnon mob provoked by Donald Trump. The evidence is clear and overwhelming; the violent mob that descended on the Capitol that day lashed out at the former president’s command. Presidents must be held accountable from their first day in office to their last. The failure by Senate Republicans to act is shameful and cowardly and puts more Americans in harm’s way.”
