Saturday, after House managers and the defense team for former President Donald Trump concluded their closing arguments, the Senate moved straight to a vote in the impeachment trial, voting 57-43 to acquit Trump of the single article of impeachment for incitement of insurrection.
After the not-guilty vote, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said that though the acquittal prevents the Senate from voting to bar Trump from taking office in the future, the American people will hold him accountable. "There is no question Donald Trump has disqualified himself," Schumer said. And if Trump "ever stands for public office again, after everything that we have seen this week, I hope and I pray and I believe that he will meet unambiguous rejection by the American people."
Leading up to the vote, House prosecutors used their closing argument to make the case that Trump had spent "months" firing up his followers, leading to the storming of the Capitol on Jan. 6, which left five people dead, including a Capitol Police officer. They also emphasized the danger former Vice President Mike Pence was in during the insurrection, saying it's "inconceivable" Trump didn't know about it.
"The cold, hard truth is that what happened on January 6 can happen again," Rep. Joe Neguse said. "The violence we saw on that terrible day may be just the beginning."
Trump's defense team focused its closing statement on allegations that the trial was "unfair and unconstitutional," and on denying that Trump ever incited an insurrection.
Now that the trial has concluded with a not-guilty verdict, here's what happened this week and what it means for Trump.
Former president Donald Trump was the first US president to be impeached twice.
James Martin/CNETImpeachment trial vote recap
After a day that started with House managers asking to subpoena witnesses -- threatening to add weeks to the trial -- the Senate moved through the final arguments by House managers and Trump's defense team before voting.
In a 57-43 vote, the Senate declared that Trump was not guilty of the article of impeachment. Joining the 48 Democrats and two independents voting to convict Trump were seven Republican senators: Richard Burr, Bill Cassidy, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Mitt Romney, Ben Sasse and Pat Toomey.
What did Schumer, McConnell and Trump say after the vote?
Following the vote, Schumer decried the result. "The case of Donald Trump's second impeachment trial was open and shut," he said. "Even though the Republican Senators prevented the Senate from disqualifying Donald Trump," Schumer said, "There is no question Donald Trump has disqualified himself, and I hope and pray and I believe that the American people will make sure of that."
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who voted not guilty, followed Schumer on the Senate floor.
"There is no question -- none -- that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day. There is no question about it," McConnell said. However, explaining his vote to acquit, McConnell said impeachment, conviction and removal are tied together, and that voting to convict the former president wasn't the proper path to hold Trump liable for what he did while in office. "We have no power to convict and disqualify a former officeholder who is now a private citizen," McConnell said.
In a statement after the vote, Trump accused Democrats of transforming "justice into a tool of political vengeance" and defended his record. "I always have, and always will, be a champion for the unwavering rule of law, the heroes of law enforcement, and the right of Americans to peacefully and honorably debate the issues of the day without malice and without hate."
What happens next and what does an acquittal mean?
With the Senate finding the former president not guilty, Trump is free to run for public office again in the 2024 presidential election or thereafter. Trump also gets to keep his benefits as a former president, including an annual pension, up to $1.5 million in travel expenses every single year and a Secret Service security detail for life.
Criminal charges could still be brought against Trump during an investigation of the insurrection by the Department of Justice, however. Prosecutors in Georgia have reportedly also opened a criminal investigation into a phone call Trump made while president, in which he told Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to "find more votes" so he could win the 2020 presidential election.
Some lawmakers in Washington say Trump should face censure, a formal, nonbinding statement of disapproval. But following the impeachment acquittal, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi scoffed at the idea.
"Censure is a slap in the face of the Constitution that lets everybody off the hook," Pelosi said. "Oh, these cowardly senators who couldn't face up to what the president did and what was at stake for our country are now going to have a chance to give a little slap on the wrist? We censure people for using stationery for the wrong purpose. We don't censure people for inciting insurrection that kills people in the Capitol."
Recap of the impeachment case against Trump
Here's the key evidence the House managers presented this week.
Previously unseen riot footage showing the attack on the Capitol, including security footage as well as models showing where rioters were in relation to senators.
Video and audio clips and social media posts showing Trump repeatedly calling on supporters to storm the Capitol ahead of Jan. 6. Video clips of the siege included chants threatening violence against Pence and members of Congress, as well as false claims about the election. Trump deliberately used false claims about election fraud, the House managers said, to "trigger an angry base to 'fight like hell'" to overturn a legitimate election.
Video and social media postings from supporters attending Trump's rally on Jan. 6 prior to the Capitol riot, used in an effort to prove causation between Trump's remarks at the rally and the rioters' actions.
Footage from Trump rallies from 2016 and 2017, in which Trump urged supporters to attack protesters at the events and praising the assaults, which the House managers said showed a pattern of supporting violence. They also pointed to Trump tweeting praise when supporters tried to run a Biden-Harris campaign bus off the road in Texas in the lead-up to the 2020 election.
Statements made by Trump following the attack demonstrated a lack of remorse and refusal to be held accountable, which sends a message to future presidents that there is no consequence to inciting an insurrection, if the Senate doesn't vote to convict, the House managers argued. At least 16 administration officials resigned in the days following the riot, managers added.
Acquitting Trump could lead to political consequences, they said. They also highlighted the high cost to state and federal governments of preparing for -- and recovering from -- what they called "President Trump's mob," and the emotional toll taken on Congressional members, staff and workers by the riot.
The First Amendment doesn't prevent you from facing consequences for your words, Raskin said Thursday, especially when you hold the highest leadership position in the nation. "There's nothing in the First Amendment ... that can excuse your betrayal of your oath of office," Raskin said. "It's not a free-speech question. [It's] the greatest betrayal of a presidential oath in the history of America."
Recap of Trump's defense strategy
Analysis of the Constitution was used on Day 1 to suggest that the impeachment trial is without merit. The trial is unconstitutional and a violation of Trump's rights, the defense argues, saying, "Mr. Trump's speech deserves full protection under the First Amendment."
Social media posts and video clips from Trump's Jan. 6 rally and other events that the defense attorneys said demonstrate that the House impeachment managers "manipulated" video and remarks used in their presentation to make their case.
Trump's remarks encouraged "peaceful and patriotic protests," his lawyers argued on Day 4, rather than a violent overturn of the results of the election, as House trial managers led by Rep. Jamie Raskin had claimed in the first three days of the trial. "We know that the president would never have wanted such a riot to occur because his long-standing hatred for violent protesters and his love for law and order is on display, worn on his sleeve, every day that he served in the White House," lead Trump lawyer Bruce Caster said Friday afternoon.
The violence was premeditated and preplanned, and therefore Trump's Jan. 6 rally speech did not cause the riot at the Capitol, it was argued. Claiming Trump's speech has been taken out of context and that his use of the word "fight" was metaphorical, Caster said rioters had already broken through barriers into the Capitol before Trump had finished speaking.
What happened does not fit the definition of an insurrection since no government was overthrown, Castor argued.
Impeachment video clips that contrast remarks from Trump with those of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, President Joe Biden and other Democratic leaders and commentators that Trump's defense team says shows the Democrats' "reckless, dangerous and inflammatory rhetoric in recent years."
Trump's first impeachment in 2019
Trump was impeached in December 2019 by the House, but the Republican-majority Senate acquitted him at the beginning of 2020.
His first impeachment involved articles accusing Trump of abusing power and obstructing Congress. The issue was Trump's dealings with Ukraine, including a July 2019 phone call in which he appeared to be using US military aid as a bargaining chip to pressure Ukraine into investigating alleged ties between his political opponent Biden, Biden's son Hunter and a Ukrainian gas company. The articles also charged Trump with interfering with a House inquiry into the Ukraine matter.
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