Editor’s Note : Senator Mitt Romney did vote guilty on abuse of power, but voted to acquit on the second charge, obstruction of Congress.
Senator Mitt Romney of Utah said Wednesday that he is planning to vote to remove President Donald Trump from office, on the charge of abuse of power, according to The New York Times .
This move makes Romney the first Republican senator to voice his support for charging the president during the Senate impeachment trial.
“I think the case was made,” Romney told The New York Times in an interview in his office earlier today.
“I believe that attempting to corrupt an election to maintain power is about as egregious an assault on the Constitution as can be made,” Romney added.
Trump was impeached and charged with both obstruction of congress and abuse of power on December 18, 2019, by the House of Representatives.
The president is facing charges for allegedly pressuring Ukrainian politicians to investigate his political rivals — including former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and his son, Hunter — ahead of the 2020 U.S. presidential elections.
At the center of the investigation is a phone call that occurred on July 25, 2019, between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The president’s critics maintain that the call saw Trump attempt to pressure Ukraine into investigating alleged corruption concerning the Biden family, using financial aid as leverage.
The House investigators asserted that the president withheld $391 million in military aid as leverage, The New York Times reported.
Despite 17 witnesses being called to testify in the House of Representatives — their testimony being forwarded to the Senate for consideration — the Senate is expected to vote to acquit Trump on both charges.
The conclusion of the impeachment trial follows Trump’s third State of the Union address on Tuesday night.
In his speech, the president spoke largely about the state of the country’s economics, and he avoided speaking about the impeachment.
“The state of our union is stronger than ever before,” the president asserted.
One of the most talked-about moments of the event occurred when Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi ripped up the president’s speech the moment it concluded. She did so as she was still standing behind him, as reported by The Inquisitr .
“She gave us something to talk about. She knew exactly what she was doing,” Fox News pundit Steve Doocy said.
Meanwhile, Sean Hannity called the scene “one of the most classless things ever done in the history of the State of the Union,” as reported by Fox News .
Earlier in the evening, Trump appeared to have snubbed Pelosi’s gesture for a handshake, according to CNN .
Although no one is sure if the president ignored Pelosi’s gesture on purpose, it certainly stirred up existing tensions between the two.