By: Nina Grenga
NIAGARA UNIVERSITY, N.Y.- On Feb. 5, President Trump was acquitted of the two charges against him during his impeachment trial. In a surprising turn of events, Republican Senator Mitt Romney announced his bid to convict Trump. This announcement came before the official acquittal, making Romney the first Republican to support Trump’s removal from office.
Discussing Trump’s attempt to involve the Ukraine in an investigation of his political rivals, Romney stated that “attempting to corrupt an election to maintain power is about as egregious an assault on the Constitution as can be made. And for that reason, it is a high crime and misdemeanor, and I have no choice under the oath that I took but to express that conclusion.”
Despite wanting to avoid any disdain from his fellow Republicans across the country, Romney emphasized how the severity of this decision had weighed heavy on him in the recent weeks leading up to the trial. “There’s not been a morning that I’ve gotten up after 4 a.m., just obviously thinking about how important this is, what the consequence is.”
Romney, like many others, felt Trump’s exhortation of investigating the Bidens was nothing more than a political pursuit. Acknowledging that the measures taken by Hunter Biden as “unsavory,” Romney reminded the audience that the president’s lawyers lacked any evidence that a crime had been committed at all by either of the family members.
At around 5 p.m. the same day, the Senate acquitted President Trump from impeachment; but the announcement from the former Republican presidential candidate, Mitt Romney, can speak volumes for the possible disconnect amongst the Republican party.
Niagara Wire 