Trump Acquitted in Second Impeachment Trial
Verdict reached in shortest time in U.S. history
February 15, 2021
Former U.S. President Donald Trump was acquitted in his second impeachment trial Saturday.
A two-thirds majority vote was needed to convict Trump. Only 57 senators voted that Trump was guilty of incitement of insurrection, while the other 43 declared him not guilty.
The trial lasted five days, making it the shortest U.S. impeachment trial to date. Trump’s first impeachment trial, which began in January 2020 and also resulted in acquittal, spanned almost three weeks.
The first day of the trial focused on whether continuing with the impeachment proceedings was constitutional given that Trump was no longer in office. The Senate voted to continue the trial.
The case managers from the House of Representatives delivered their arguments for Trump’s conviction on Wednesday and Thursday. Trump’s defense delivered their arguments against conviction on Friday, using only one of two days granted to them to present their case.
The Senate began discussion Saturday. The vote to acquit Trump was held the same day at the end of the court meeting.
Trump is the only president in the history of the U.S. to go through impeachment proceedings twice.