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US President Donald Trump Acquitted On Both Impeachment Charges

US President Donald Trump Acquitted On Both Impeachment Charges

The leader survived both counts of abuse of power and obstruction of congress.

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie

US President Donald Trump has survived his impeachment trial and will stay in power after Republicans voted to acquit him.

The American leader has been acquitted on counts of abuse of power and obstruction of congress, 52-48 and 53-47 respectively, which fell below the two-thirds requirement for impeachment to be followed through.

PA

Supreme Court chief justice John Roberts read out the verdict, saying: "The Senate having tried Donald John Trump, President of the United States, upon two Articles of Impeachment exhibited against him by the House of Representatives, and two-thirds of the Senators present not having found him guilty of the charges contained therein: it is, therefore, ordered and adjudged that the said Donald John Trump be, and he is hereby, acquitted of the charges in said articles."

Trump had been facing allegations of 'multiple federal crimes' after he spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and asked for an investigation into Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden as well as a now-debunked conspiracy theory about the 2016 election.

A whistleblower leaked details about the call and then the transcripts were made public, leading to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi launching an inquiry, back in September.

Trump has also been accused of withholding military aid to Ukraine for his own 'personal political gain', according to NPR.

In a stunning rebuke of the Republicans, Mitt Romney has become the first senator to vote against a person from his own party in an impeachment trial.

PA

The former US Presidential hopeful stopped Trump from having total Republican unity on acquittal.

Romney said: "The grave question the Constitution tasks senators to answer is whether the president committed an act so extreme and egregious that it rises to the level of a 'high crime and misdemeanour'.

"Yes, he did."

The Utah politician explained that his faith was crucial in him deciding what to do 'do what is right' and 'let the consequence follow'.

"I understand it will be substantial and I have to recognise that it was one or the other," Romney said.

"One is to say, 'I don't want to face the blowback.' But on the other side, there is: 'Do you do what you know is right?'"

Donald Trump seems pretty pleased with the result of the impeachment process, tweeting a picture of a TIME Magazine cover showing him contesting the next few presidential elections, all the way up to 2048 - even though that is legally impossible.

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: US News, Donald Trump, politics