Will the Utah Senator’s announcement change any other Republican vote?
There would need to be 12 more to convict Trump of the charges…
THAT won’t happen….
But the Utah Senator is about to become an enemy of Donald Trump’s state….
Senator Mitt Romney, Republican of Utah, is announcing his decision on the articles of impeachment.
- Romney will vote to convict Trump of abuse of power, the first Republican to support removing the president.
- House Democrats are ‘likely’ to subpoena John Bolton after the impeachment trial ends.
- Doug Jones, who was seen as a possible Democratic defector, ‘reluctantly’ decides to vote to convict Trump.
- The votes are expected about 4 p.m.
- Trump avoided impeachment in his State of the Union address, but he may have his say after the votes.
- ‘It’s my hope we’ve finally found bottom.’ Senators lament a broken institution.
Romney will vote to convict Trump of abuse of power, the first Republican to support removing the president.
Senator Mitt Romney of Utah said Wednesday that he would vote to convict President Trump of abuse of power, making him the first Republican to support removing Mr. Trump for his bid to pressure Ukraine to investigate his political rivals.
“I think the case was made,” Mr. Romney said in an interview in his Senate office on Wednesday morning, ahead of an afternoon floor speech announcing his stance.
Mr. Romney said he would vote against the second article of impeachment, obstruction of Congress, arguing that House Democrats had failed to exhaust their legal options for securing testimony and other evidence they had sought. But the first-term senator said that Democrats had proven their first charge, that the president had misused his office for his own personal gain.
“I believe that attempting to corrupt an election to maintain power is about as egregious an assault on the Constitution as can be made,” Mr. Romney added, appearing by turns relieved and nervous — but also determined — as he explained his decision. “And for that reason, it is a high crime and misdemeanor, and I have no choice under the oath that I took but to express that conclusion.”…
…from the Atlantic….
In the end, the evidence was inescapable. “The president did in fact pressure a foreign government to corrupt our election process,” Romney said. “And really, corrupting an election process in a democratic republic is about as abusive and egregious an act against the Constitution—and one’s oath—that I can imagine. It’s what autocrats do.”
According to Romney’s interpretation of Alexander Hamilton’s treatise on impeachment in “Federalist No. 65”—which he says he’s read “multiple, multiple times”—Trump’s attempts to enlist the Ukrainian president in interfering with the 2020 election clearly rose to the level of “high crimes and misdemeanors.” (He told me he would not vote to convict on the second article of impeachment, obstruction of Congress.)
Romney’s vote will do little to reorient the political landscape. The president’s acquittal has been all but certain for weeks, as Republicans have circled the wagons to protect Trump. But the Utahan’s sharp indictment ensures that at least one dissenting voice from within the president’s party will be on the record—and Romney seems to believe history will vindicate his decision.
He also knows his vote will likely make him a pariah on the right. Already, he says, he’s experienced firsthand the ire of the base. At an airport recently, a stranger yelled at him, “You ought to be ashamed!” During a trip to Florida with his wife this past weekend, someone shouted “Traitor!” from a car window…..
Romney vote post is here….
I should never have doubted that Mitt Romney would do the right thing. I feel vindicated in having supported him in efforts to lead my party since at least 2007. Truly today, he is the leader of my party… or whatever is left of it.
Whatever consequences he faees politically from this point on will pale in comparison to how he will be remembered by history.
The first and only U.S. Senator ever to vote to convict a President of his or her own party. That is not easy thing to do. (He also made it clear he will not be voting for Donald Trump once again in November, but I never had *any* doubt about that)
The reaction among his constituents will probably be mixed, but his children and many grandchildren should never fail to be proud.
james, this one you can make a front page post if you wish.
CG i can post u later….
No problem…..
Between Romney’s vote and SOTU drawing 25% fewer viewers expect some angry Trump tweets in the next few hours.
Not only that ,but Romney will really be blasted on Fox News opinion shows .Lou Dobbs, Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson are going to go bonkers over this.
I stopped by HHR.
You would think they would be happy that their Leader was being acquitted.Instead, they are trying to one up each other in expressing their outrage at Romney with a few obligatory swipes at CG.
The Cult brooks no dissent!
Mitt Romney let it be known he was sticking by his own faith and values and the cult can go f itself…
Of course he said it more politely than that, as he tends to do.
Romney’s full Senate floor speech:
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/02/05/mitt-romney-impeachment-vote-speech-transcript-110849
As the modern saying goes, “inject this into my veins.”
(I would have voted guilty on both counts though)
Donald Trump Jr has Tweeted that Romney needs to be expelled from the GOP.
I wonder how exactly one is “expelled” from a political party?
Watch. They will tell Ronna to make up some fake, sick story about her Uncle to “expose” him or they will tell her she’s fired from the RNC.
Let’s see what she is made of when this happens.
I imagine Mitt’s response will be that the people of Utah elected him as a Republican to the a US Senate so they have the final word, not you.
At a time like this, it should be acknowledged that in a different time, not too long ago, others would have joined Mitt Romney in doing what they know is right.
Sen. John McCain. Sen. Jeff Flake. Sen. Mark Kirk and hopefully many others.
You should read the love for Mitt being expressed over @Democratic Underground where the denunciations of Republicans usually make my criticisms here seem laughingly mild by comparison.
They even have a Mitt appreciation thread going!
I checked out Daily Kos.
Some genuine praise and some people expressing being pleasantly surprised but still a lot of “he’s still a scumbag” , etc. People speculating he is planning to run in 2024 when he will be Bernie Sanders age. (In his interview, Romney laughed it off saying he would get about 3 % of the Republican vote right now)
At least I know Scott won’t be calling him that again that here for a while.
And let’s see what Trumpism truly looks like in 2024.
Two, exactly two, one the Senate and one in the House (who has already been “expelled”). I sense a real groundswell for the “never Trumpers.”
The entire GOP is corrupt.
Sinema of AZ is a yes on conviction.
Horny, middle-aged Trump fanboys hardest hit.
It’s all up to Manchin.
Manchin will vote to convict. That’s all Dems and one Republican.
Get ready for some rage tweets
Here we go!
First time in history the entire opposition party votes to convict.
Mitt gave Manchin cover. I’m glad he took it.
I felt compelled to go down to the main foyer of the building where they have CNN on mute when the vote was going on. People were walking back and forth not paying attention, but I wanted to clap when Mitt Romney cast his vote. I didn’t care if anyone noticed. It was the least I thought I could do.
Then, when I was about to leave, a woman I know from my company told me she sits next to someone here whose brother is a longtime Romney aide. Go figure.
Republican Senators are angry, not so much that Romney voted to convict, but that he had a professional rollout planned with tv and print interviews embargoed until he took the floor and that he did not tell anyone how he was going to vote.
Of course not. It would have been leaked.
So, they are upset that Romney is getting coverage that is competing with the Trump acquittal.
Good for Mitt.
Romney waited until the optimal time to have as much impact as possible with the nation. Trump had to cancel a photo-op with the leader of Venezuela instead of face reporters. The White House is said to also be shocked that Manchin voted against them.
They wanted a bi-partisan vote and they got it. Just not the way they expected.
“A Profile in Courage”
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/02/mitt-romneys-profile-courage/606145/
I hate to even think about this but I hope the Senator and his family are taking precautions. Angry cult members can be crazy, and what I am seeing online from those types is pretty insane.
“But Republicans aren’t alone in being exposed by Romney’s admirable conduct. Maybe Democrats and those in the media who delighted in vilifying Romney in 2012—Senator Harry Reid lied about Romney’s taxes; an Obama super PAC tied him to a woman’s cancer death—might, in their private moments, rethink and even feel some remorse for what they did. Maybe they will see, if only for a few fleeting seconds, that they allowed their partisanship to overwhelm their sense of decency, that they sought to destroy the reputation of a man of enormous personal integrity to further their political aims.”
Whatever one’s personal religion, I think this Hymn speaks quite powerfully:
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/music/library/hymns/do-what-is-right?lang=eng&_r=1
The votes today by the GOP senators where NOT About the Country ….
It was about fear and pure politics …
Donald Trump beat the system and is crowing about it….
Remember ?
Most GOPer’s ADMIT Trump fucked up…
Is that what Republicans are saying – “Trump fucked up?”
Gee- I thought they were yelling “4 more years yesterday”
Yeah. I really don’t care what these Republican Senators say in private. If they publicly cheer Trump they are part of The Cult
I think they will say ANYTHING to make the guy happy…
There ARE numerous written stories of GOP’s inside and out saying Trump DID the wrong thing…
On the obstruction?
They are just screwing THEMSELVES and the Congress…
Ref:….
Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH): “In private, many of my colleagues agree that the president is reckless and unfit. They admit his lies. And they acknowledge what he did was wrong. They know this president has done things Richard Nixon never did. And they know that more damning evidence is likely to come out.”
“So watching the mental contortions they perform to justify their votes is painful to behold: They claim that calling witnesses would have meant a never-ending trial. They tell us they’ve made up their minds, so why would we need new evidence? They say to convict this president now would lead to the impeachment of every future president — as if every president will try to sell our national security to the highest bidder.”
“I have asked some of them, ‘If the Senate votes to acquit, what will you do to keep this president from getting worse?’ Their responses have been shrugs and sheepish looks.”…
Politicalwire….
Republican Senators have been laughing off or disagreeing with the suggestion of Trump Jr that Romney be “expelled” from the party or otherwise punished. Clearly, nothing like that is going to happen in the Senate, although I imagine all sorts of county parties in different states will think they have the power to “censure” him over the vote.
As for his actual Senate colleagues? More than half of them probably agree with him and what he did but just didn’t have the balls or ovaries to say it aloud.
We’ll see how Trump deals with Romney….
His natural instincts is to strike out…
Apparently, according to no less trustworthy source than the Chief Magistrate himself, Mitt Romney was some kind of secret agent who orchestrated his own defeat in 2012.
Perhaps the scales will now fall from the eyes of CG & Kyle Rice.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1225203837226700800