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John,
I voted "not guilty" in the second impeachment trial of President Donald J. Trump. On a topic as important as impeachment, I want you to hear directly from me why I voted the way I did. There is no doubt that January 6 was one of the saddest days in American history. It will forever be part of President Trump's term in office. Unfortunately for our country, the unconstitutional impeachment effort was driven by passion and hatred of President Trump. In their drive to convict our former President, the House Managers totally ignored bedrock legal standards. There were no hearings in the House of Representatives. No witnesses. No testimony. And they even made the outrageous claim the First Amendment does not apply to political speech. Due process, at even the most basic level, could have avoided this debacle. Instead, the case presented to the Senate by the House Managers was based on hearsay after hearsay, combined with media reports. The charge against former President Trump for inciting violence was contrary to the evidence. And using the standard of incitement the House Managers proposed, many politicians could find themselves on the wrong side of unwarranted impeachments in the future. It was never the goal of the House of Representatives to find out what happened on January 6 and then assign blame. They were assigning complete and total blame to President Trump regardless. For the good of the country, I hope we never hold another impeachment trial against a former president, which I believe is unconstitutional. I hope the House of Representatives never again impeaches a president without a lawyer, a hearing, or a single witness. And I hope this is the last trial record that is built on hearsay upon hearsay. I fear that if this model is followed in the future, using impeachment to disqualify one from holding office based on partisan hatred will become the norm. I hope I will be proven wrong, but it appears that impeachment based on partisan differences is becoming the norm, not the exception. Sincerely, 
Lindsey Graham United States Senator
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