MAINE, Maine — U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King voted "guilty" Saturday afternoon as the U.S. Senate voted 57-43 to acquit former President Donald Trump of "incitement of insurrection" in connection with the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
Collins, a Republican, was among seven senators to break ranks and cast guilty votes. Two-thirds of those present were required for conviction.
Also voting for conviction were Republican senators Richard Burr, Bill Cassidy, Lisa Murkowski, Mitt Romney, Ben Sasse, and Patrick Toomey.
In a statement Saturday, King, an Independent, said "former President Trump's complicity in the horrific events of Jan. 6th is undeniable."
"What a dangerous, un-American precedent to set," King said of the vote. He said the former president "poured the gasoline, lit the match, and directed the hostile crowd towards Capitol Hill."
"For the long-term health of our democracy, I voted to convict and send a strong message to future generations that attacks on America’s democratic values will not be swept under the rug," King said. "This must be done not just to mete out justice, but also to deter anyone in such a position in the future from abusing the powers of the office."
“During his four years in the Oval Office, former President Trump made a number of decisions that I disagreed with -- decisions that made America less safe, less prepared for the challenges of the future, and less connected to the values that have defined our nation since its founding,” King said. “But in my eyes, the former President’s effort to delegitimize a free and fair election was his most dangerous failing. As was his right, the former President sought to challenge the results through the courts and had his legal team argue his case; those results proved fruitless, as 60 rulings went against him due to lack of evidence or demonstrably false claims. That’s when the President escalated things further doing more harm -- pushing the big lie of a ‘stolen election,’ stoking the anger of his base and telling them they could not trust the press, or the election officials, or the courts. He continued this disinformation campaign relentlessly until January 6th, when the rally crowd he invited to Washington, D.C. with a promise that ‘it will be wild’ marched to Capitol Hill with his encouragement. It was only then -- when the seat of democracy was under attack -- that President Trump went silent.
Read King's full statement at the end of this story.
Collins spoke on the Senate floor later Saturday afternoon.
"President Trump’s falsehoods convinced a large number of Americans that he had won and they had been cheated," Collins said.
"Context is everything," Collins continued. "Tossing a lit match into a pile of dry leaves is very different than tossing it into a pool of water," she said, saying Trump "set the stage for the storming of the Capitol."
Watch her full remarks here:
"Instead of preventing a dangerous situation, President Trump created one. And rather than defending the constitutional transfer of power, he incited an insurrection."
"My vote in this trial stems from my own oath and duty to defend the Consitution of the United States," Collins said. "The abuse of power and betrayal of oath by President Trump meet the high bar of high crimes and misdemeanors..."
Read Collins' full remarks below.
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King's full statement:
“During his four years in the Oval Office, former President Trump made a number of decisions that I disagreed with – decisions that made America less safe, less prepared for the challenges of the future, and less connected to the values that have defined our nation since its founding. But in my eyes, the former President’s effort to delegitimize a free and fair election was his most dangerous failing. As was his right, the former President sought to challenge the results through the courts and had his legal team argue his case; those results proved fruitless, as 60 rulings went against him due to lack of evidence or demonstrably false claims. That’s when the President escalated things further doing more harm -- pushing the big lie of a ‘stolen election,’ stoking the anger of his base and telling them they could not trust the press, or the election officials, or the courts. He continued this disinformation campaign relentlessly until January 6th, when the rally crowd he invited to Washington, D.C. with a promise that ‘it will be wild’ marched to Capitol Hill with his encouragement. It was only then – when the seat of democracy was under attack – that President Trump went silent.
After listening to days of presentations, former President Trump’s complicity in the horrific events of January 6th is undeniable. For the long-term health of our democracy, I voted to convict and send a strong message to future generations that attacks on America’s democratic values will not be swept under the rug. This must be done not just to mete out justice, but also to deter anyone in such a position in the future from abusing the powers of the office.
There were a number of key issues at play for the Senate to consider during this trial. First was the question of constitutionality – was the Senate even allowed to conduct this trial for someone who no longer holds elected office? I paid close attention to the arguments put forward by both the House managers and the Trump lawyers – and in the end, agreed with the House managers and some of America’s most conservative legal minds.
The implications of deeming the trial illegitimate are clear – by destroying Congress’s ability to hold future presidents accountable for behavior in his or her final days in office, we would create a two-month window after a lost election in which a President can behave lawlessly, free to ignore the Constitution without fear of consequences. What a dangerous, un-American precedent to set. The vote was 56 – 44; it should have been 100 – 0.
Once the trial was deemed constitutional, the House managers methodically and effectively laid out their case through firsthand footage showing the fury of the rioters, heartbreaking examples of the violence directed at law enforcement officers working to defend our democracy, and verbatim statements from both insurrectionists and prominent Republican leaders to demonstrate that the insurrectionists were following Donald Trump’s marching orders. The House managers clearly established that the insurrectionists went to the Capitol at President Trump’s direction, in an attempt to prevent Congress from fulfilling its Constitutional responsibility to hear the will of the American voters. In their own words, they went to ‘stop the steal’ with force and the President did nothing to stop them. Donald Trump’s lies drove people to violence – and when the violence came, his silence was deafening.
On the other hand, the former President’s defense lawyers seemed to center their wobbly argument around out-of-context clips from Democratic leaders in an attempt to devalue President Trump’s incendiary rhetoric, and baseless attempts to claim the mob was Antifa-affiliated despite irrefutable legal, online and self-admitted proof that the agitators were Trump supporters. Their brief, uninspired efforts did little to defend former President Trump’s actions in the weeks leading up to January 6th, or explain why he refused to clearly instruct his supporters to leave the Capitol until hours later. Their weak attempts to flip the script did not address the facts at hand: that Donald Trump’s rhetoric and actions led to tangible harm and tragic deaths.
Throughout this case, I’ve continually returned to an old test I learned in law school, the ‘but for’ test. The principle is simple: would something have happened ‘but for’ someone’s actions? At the end of the day, that is the basic question at hand: would any of this have occurred ‘but for’ Donald Trump’s lies about the election’s legitimacy; his efforts to stoke distrust in our democratic processes; his repeated calls for supporters to gather in Washington on January 6th, and then march to the Capitol to interrupt a sacred democratic process? The answer is clear: of course not. Donald Trump poured the gasoline, lit the match, and directed the hostile crowd towards Capitol Hill – he bears ultimate responsibility.
Unfortunately, too many of my Republican colleagues have chosen to let former President Trump off the hook – again. Some attribute this decision to an effort to listen to the tens of millions of Americans who still back former President Trump, and believe he was the rightful winner of this election. This view is misguided – we cannot heal by granting Donald Trump a free pass for his harmful actions. The only way that we can combat these lies and heal our nation is by embracing truth and accountability. We need all future political leaders to know that they cannot fan the flames of an insurrection without consequences; we need all Americans to know that our political differences are solved at the ballot box, not through brute force. Today’s failure to convict former President Trump is a step backwards – but our work to steward American self-governance for the next generation must continue.”
Collins' full remarks:
“The hallmark of our American democracy is the peaceful transfer of power after the voters choose their leaders. In America, we accept election results even if our candidate does not prevail. If a candidate believes that there is fraud, the courts can hear and decide those issues. Otherwise, the authority to govern is vested in the duly elected officials.
On January 6, this Congress gathered in the Capitol to count the votes of the Electoral College pursuant to the process set forth in the 12th Amendment to the Constitution. At the same time, a mob stormed the Capitol determined to stop Congress from carrying out our constitutional duty. That attack was not a spontaneous outbreak of violence. Rather, it was the culmination of a steady stream of provocations by President Trump that were aimed at overturning the results of the presidential election.
The President’s unprecedented efforts to discredit the election results did not begin on January 6. Rather, he planted the seeds of doubt many weeks before votes were cast on November 3. He repeatedly told his supporters that only a ‘rigged election’ could cause him to lose. Thus began President Trump’s crusade to undermine public confidence in the presidential election -- unless he won.
Early on the morning of November 4, as the ballots continued to be counted, President Trump claimed victory and asserted that Democrats were trying to ‘steal’ the election. On November 8, the day after several media outlets had declared Joe Biden the apparent winner based on state-by-state results, President Trump tweeted ‘this was a stolen election.’ With that, his post-election campaign to change the outcome began.
Over the ensuing days and months, the President distorted the results of the election, continuing to claim that he had won while court after court threw out his lawsuits and states continued to certify their results. President Trump’s falsehoods convinced a large number of Americans that he had won and that they were being cheated.
The President also embarked on an incredible effort to pressure state election officials to change the results in their states. The most egregious example occurred on January 2. In an extraordinary phone call, President Trump could be heard alternating between lobbying, cajoling, intimidating, and threatening the election officials in Georgia. ‘I just want to find 11,780 votes,’ he stated, seeking the exact number of votes needed to change the outcome in that state. Despite the President’s pleas and threats, the Georgia officials refused to yield to the presidential pressure as did state officials in other states.
In December, President Trump’s post-election campaign became focused on January 6 – the day that Congress was scheduled to count the Electoral College votes. Although this counting is a ceremonial and administrative act, it is nevertheless the constitutionally mandated final step in the electoral college process, and it must occur before a new president can be inaugurated.
On December 19, President Trump tweeted to his supporters: ‘Big protest in D.C. on January 6th. Be there, will be wild!’ In response, some of his campaign supporters changed the date for protest rallies they originally had scheduled to occur after the inauguration to happen instead on January 6.
Having failed to persuade the courts and state election officials, President Trump next began to pressure Vice President Mike Pence to use his role under the 12th Amendment to overturn the election. The President met with Vice President Pence on January 5, then increased the pressure by tweeting hours later: If the Vice President ‘comes through for us, we will win the Presidency.’ That’s what his Tweet said.
Vice President Pence, however, refused to yield. He issued a public letter on January 6 making clear that his ‘oath to support and defend the Constitution’ would prevent him from unilaterally deciding ‘which electoral votes should be counted and which should not.’
During his speech at the Ellipse on January 6, President Trump kept up that drumbeat of pressure on Vice President Pence. In front of a large, agitated crowd, he urged the Vice President to ‘stand up for the good of our Constitution.’
‘I hope Mike has the courage to do what he has to do,’ President Trump concluded.
Rather than facilitating the peaceful transfer of power, President Trump was telling Vice President Pence to ignore the Constitution and to refuse to count the certified votes. He was also further agitating the crowd, directing them to march to the Capitol.
In this situation, context was everything. Tossing a lit match into a pile of dry leaves is very different from tossing it into a pool of water.
And on January 6, the atmosphere among the crowd outside the White House was highly combustible, largely the result of an ill wind blowing from Washington for the past two months.
President Trump had stoked discontent with a steady barrage of false claims that the election had been stolen from him. The allegedly responsible officials were denigrated, scorned, and ridiculed by the President, with the predictable result that his supporters viewed any official that they perceived to be an obstacle to President Trump’s reelection as an enemy of their cause.
That set the stage for the storming of the Capitol for the first time in more than 200 years.
Nearly 30 minutes after the Capitol first came under attack, Members of Congress, law enforcement, and everyone else here in the Capitol waited in vain for the President to unequivocally condemn the violence and tell his misguided supporters to leave the Capitol. Rather than demand an end to the violence, President Trump expressed his frustration once again that the Vice President had not stopped the vote certification as he had urged. Shortly after the Vice President was whisked away from this very Chamber to avoid the menacing mob chanting ‘Hang Mike Pence,’ President Trump tweeted, ‘Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done.’
Instead of preventing a dangerous situation, President Trump created one. And rather than defend the constitutional transfer of power, he incited an insurrection with the purpose of preventing that transfer of power from occurring. Whether by design or by virtue of a reckless disregard for the consequences of his actions, President Trump, subordinating the interests of the country to his own selfish interests, bears significant responsibility for the invasion of the Capitol.
This impeachment trial is not about any single word uttered by President Trump on January 6, 2021. It is instead about President Trump’s failure to obey the oath he swore on January 20, 2017. His actions to interfere with the peaceful transition of power – the hallmark of our Constitution and our American democracy – were an abuse of power and constitute grounds for conviction.
Two arguments have been made against conviction that deserve comment. The first is that this was a ‘snap impeachment,’ that the House failed to hold hearings, conduct an investigation, and interview witnesses. And that is true. Without a doubt, the House should have been more thorough. It should have compiled a more complete record. Nevertheless, the record is clear that the President, President Trump, abused his power, violated his oath to uphold the Constitution, and tried almost every means in his power to prevent the peaceful transfer of authority to the newly elected President.
Second is the contention that the First Amendment protects the President’s right to make any sort of outrageous and false claims, no matter the consequences. But the First Amendment was not designed and has never been construed by any court to bar the impeachment and conviction of an official who violates his oath of office by summoning and inciting a mob to threaten other officials in the discharge of their constitutional obligations.
My vote in this trial stems from my own oath and duty to defend the Constitution of the United States. The abuse of power and betrayal of his oath by President Trump meet the constitutional standard of ‘high crimes and misdemeanors,’ and for those reasons I voted to convict Donald J. Trump.”