THE BIG STORY

Seven Republicans joined Democrats in voting to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial, but it was not enough.

The Republican Party operated as it did most days on Saturday, shielding Donald Trump from responsibility and consequences for the deadly and dangerous things he plainly said and did, with the Senate voting to acquit him of high crimes and misdemeanors for the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

Trump’s acquittal after his second impeachment trial now ties his brand of extreme politics — including the use of political violence and delusional conspiracy theories — inextricably to the future of the Republican Party.

With Trump voted out of office, banned from Twitter and Facebook, and golfing in Florida, Republicans had their best opportunity to convict and block him from running for office again, a sign that the party would not tolerate a naked attempt to overturn an election. Instead, they chose to keep on his good side.

THE REPUBLICANS WHO VOTED TO INDICT TRUMP

Richard Burr
Bill Cassidy
Susan Collins
Lisa Murkowski
Mitt Romney
Ben Sasse
Pat Toomey

43 Republicans voted to acquit him, wrapping their decision in a questionable constitutional argument in order to avoid the reality that their lives were put in danger because of a series of lies about the election that Trump drilled into his supporters and which Republicans largely let go unchallenged.

HOW WE GOT HERE

Impeachment trial, day 1:

Tuesday set the tone for what was to come.

Democrats opened with a stunning video of Trump's supporters using his own words, interspersed with footage of the former president, as they attacked the Capitol. Rep. Jamie Raskin, the Democrats' lead House impeachment manager, gave an emotional speech, describing a day of panic, fear, and uncertainty.

Meanwhile Trump's defense team winged it, and got off to such a bad start that even a Republican senator mocked it.

Day 2:

A video presentation was again the centerpiece for Democrats. On Wednesday they showed shocking bodycam footage to the jury of senators to highlight how Trump's mob attacked and beat officers. One video was of the crowd hitting police with a hockey stick, a bullhorn, and a Trump flag. New security cam footage showed Capitol Police officer Eugene Goodman racing to keep Mitt Romney from running into the rioters, before running back to confront them himself.

The dramatic footage left Republican senators shaken. But even after seeing how close the mob got to their colleagues, they maintained Trump wasn't responsible.

Day 3:

Democrats wrapped up their case with two main points: Trump invited his supporters to DC and encouraged violence — and once that violence began, he waited hours to do anything about it. The impeachment managers played video of insurrectionists saying they came to DC because Trump explicitly invited them; many of the rioters who were arrested have since argued in court that they believed they were following Trump’s directions when they stormed the Capitol.

Democrats repeatedly said that Trump showed no remorse for the attack and waited hours to call on his supporters to leave, and even then, he praised them.

Day 4:

Trump’s lawyers straight-up lied about the violent Capitol insurrection in Friday’s trial. They first tried to argue that it wasn’t a mob of Trump supporters who attacked the Capitol, but instead invented a fantasy of a small group of people from across the political spectrum, including “the leader” of “antifa,” leading the charge. (Republicans redirect blame to “antifa” every time they need to distract from right-wing violence.) Mountains of evidence from charging papers and rioters' own social media posts prove otherwise.

Trump’s defense team also relied heavily on video, showing lengthy clips of Democrats calling for Trump’s impeachment from early in his term. In trying to prove that Trump telling his supporters on Jan. 6 to “fight like hell” is protected by the First Amendment, they played a nearly 10-minute montage of Democrats also saying the word “fight.”