Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is weighing in on the Senate’s acquittal of former President Donald Trump.
The Kentucky senator is declaring that the acquittal vindicated the Constitution, not Trump, he wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed published Monday evening.
After calling Jan. 6 a “shameful day” when a “mob bloodied law enforcement and besieged the first branch of government,” McConnell said, “There is no question former President Trump bears moral responsibility.”
His remarks come shortly after the Senate acquitted Trump on the charge of “incitement of insurrection” with a 57-43 vote on Saturday, as IJR reported. That fell 10 votes short of convicting him. Seven Republicans joined Democrats.
“His supporters stormed the Capitol because of the unhinged falsehoods he shouted into the world’s largest megaphone,” McConnell wrote. “His behavior during and after the chaos was also unconscionable, from attacking Vice President Mike Pence during the riot to praising the criminals after it ended.”
McConnell later added in the op-ed, “The nation needs real constitutional champions, not fair-weather constitutionalists.”
He added of the acquittal:
“The Senate’s duty last week was clear. It wasn’t to guarantee a specific punishment at any cost. Our job was to defend the Constitution and respect its limits. That is what our acquittal delivered.”
McConnell explained that some believe “the Senate can try and convict former officers. Others don’t.” But he “concluded that Article II, Section 4 limits impeachment and conviction to current officers.”
He also wrote:
“I side with the early constitutional scholar Justice Joseph Story. He observed that while disqualification is optional, removal is mandatory on conviction. The Constitution presupposes that anyone convicted by the Senate must have an office from which to be removed. This doesn’t mean leaving office provides immunity from accountability. Former officials are ‘still liable to be tried and punished in the ordinary tribunals of justice.’ Criminal law and civil litigation ensure there is no so-called January exemption.”
The Senate minority leader said he respected his colleagues who voted to convict Trump.
Following the Senate’s acquittal, McConnell said that there is “no question that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day,” as IJR reported on.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) took aim at McConnell and the Senate Republicans who voted to acquit Trump, as IJR also reported.
“Other Senate Republicans’ refusal to hold Trump accountable for igniting a violent insurrection to cling to power will go down as one of the darkest days and most dishonorable acts in our nation’s history,” Pelosi wrote in a statement.
