There’s no way to sugar-coat it — today’s Senate vote is deeply disappointing. The failure to hold a president accountable for fomenting a violent attack on our Capitol is a damning testament to how broken our politics are.
The case for conviction was overwhelming. But, the majority of my Republican colleagues chose to hide behind bogus procedural issues and twisted legal arguments, instead of facing the reality of that day of insurrection and the months that led up to it.
Trump incited the January 6th attack. But he did not do so in a vacuum. He did so in a democracy that was vulnerable to someone who could stoke rage to exploit our divisions, abuse the levers of power, and use the highest office of our land to undermine our Constitution. This would not have been possible without his Congressional enablers — who even today have failed the test of history.
Today was not a good day. But I am hopeful for the future.
While we failed to convict a guilty president, I am encouraged that this vote did not fall strictly on party lines. It was the largest bipartisan vote to convict a president in American history. And over the course of this last week the American people were presented with indelible proof of Donald Trump’s actions and guilt.
This story is not over — numerous criminal cases against the former president are working their way through the courts, investigations into the funding of groups involved in the January 6th attack continue, and the perpetrators themselves will eventually come to trial and have an opportunity to tell their own stories of who brought them to Washington DC that day and why.
In the end, Constitutional checks and balances, our courts, state and local officials — and the Capitol Hill police — prevented Trump’s effort to overthrow the 2020 election. This trial brought to light his crimes against our Constitution, and these crimes will not be erased. They forever will be part of history and a constant reminder of what is possible if we let our guard down.
Now it’s up to us to write the history of our next chapter.
I look forward to working together to do just that!
Chris
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