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President Trump’s chances of acquittal in his next Senate impeachment trial are unclear, as most Republicans decline to comment on their vote or say they are undecided.
Fox News has contacted all Republicans who will serve as senators following the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden on January 20, when the trial is likely to begin.
Since a two-thirds majority is required to convict, seventeen Republicans are expected to vote in favor of impeachment, assuming all 50 Democrats do.
But only 13 GOP senators volunteered to vote to acquit Trump of the House impeachment resolution, which accused the president of “incitement to insurgency.”
Based on responses to Fox News and public statements, ten Republicans are undecided. Three declined to comment and 24 others did not respond, despite repeated requests for comment during two days of investigation.
Only ten Republicans in the House crossed the aisle to support the impeachment resolution, which passed on Wednesday.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is among those who say they want to listen to arguments before voting.
“While the press has been full of speculation, I have not made a final decision on how I will vote and intend to listen to the legal arguments when they are presented to the Senate,” said the majority leader in a note to GOP senators. Wednesday, obtained by Fox News.
Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama is among those who agree.
“I think we have to wait and hear the evidence,” Shelby told Fox News Thursday. “If there is a trial, which would be my third as a sitting senator, I would sit as a juror. And as a juror, I would carefully review the evidence presented.”
“The charges against President Trump are serious and will be seriously considered, including looking at historical and legal precedents and the long-term impacts that a conviction in these circumstances could have on our Republic,” said Senator Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska. told Fox News. “When a trial takes place, I will be a juror, and I will thoroughly examine the arguments and evidence presented, including any defense put forward by the President’s legal team.
Alaska Senior Senator Lisa Murkowski was the first Republican in the upper chamber to call for Trump’s impeachment. She told local media last week: “I want him out.”
Murkowski said Trump’s incitement to violence was “illegal” and could not be “without consequence,” and applauded the impeachment.
But she said she would wait until the trial before deciding whether or not to convict Trump.
“When the article of impeachment arrives in the Senate, I will follow the oath I took under oath as a United States Senator,” Murkowski said in a statement. “I will listen carefully and consider the arguments on both sides, and then announce how I will vote.”
Pennsylvania Senator Pat Toomey was the only Republican other than Murkowski to say publicly last week that Trump had “committed uneasy crimes,” and he stood by his judgment of the president and “his role. in the murderous riot on the Capitol ”.
But he too is not yet ready to condemn.
“President Trump will be removed from office before a Senate impeachment trial can begin. Whether or not the Senate has the constitutional authority to hold an impeachment trial for a president who is no longer in office is questionable,” Toomey told Fox News. “If the Senate were to proceed to trial, I will again assume my responsibility to consider the arguments of House Directors and lawyers for President Trump.”
Republican Representative Susan Collins, of Maine; Mike Crapo, Indiana; Chuck Grassley, Iowa; James Lankford, Oklahoma; and Rob Portman, of Ohio, also told Fox News they would await trial before delivering a verdict on Trump’s Senate conviction.
Senators who will vote in favor of acquittal have widely expressed their concerns over the country’s division.
“At a time when the United States needs a national healing and a true commitment to the rule of law, the American people should look to their lawmakers not to deepen the partisan divide, but to bring us together,” Senator Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., told Fox News. “There are seven days left for the president’s term, and he is fully committed to a peaceful transfer of power.”
DEMOCRATS ACCUSING THE ASSET OF AN “ INCENTIVE IN INSURRECTION ”
A spokesperson for Senator Rand Paul, R-Ky., Claimed that the trial was nothing more than a “partisan exercise that will further bitter and divide the country”.
Paul did not join the other members of the GOP, led by the senses. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., And Ted Cruz, R-Texas, to oppose the Electoral College results last week, and his spokesperson told Fox News he condemned the violence on Capitol Hill.
But the spokesperson added: “If Democrats are serious about reducing tensions and divisions, impeachment is a bad idea.”
Hagerty and Paul were joined in opposition to the conviction by several GOP senators including Lindsey Graham of South Carolina; Rick Scott, from Florida; and Marsha Blackburn.
“Moving forward with impeachment at this point will only further divide our already injured nation,” Senator Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo, told Fox News. “I respect the right of all of my colleagues to vote according to their conscience, but we need to calm the rhetoric and start finding ways to work together as Americans.”
Senator Mitt Romney, R-Utah, the only GOP senator to cross party lines and vote alongside Democrats for impeachment in February 2020, did not respond to Fox News’ inquiry into what he was thinking of the next impeachment trial.
Twenty-six other Republican senators did not respond to Fox News questions about the upcoming impeachment trial: John Barrasso, of Wyoming; Roy Blunt, of Missouri; John Boozman, from Arkansas; Mike Braun, from Indiana; Richard Burr, North Carolina; Shelley Moore Capito, from West Virginia; Bill Cassidy, of Louisiana; John Cornyn, from Texas; Kevin Cramer, of North Dakota; Joni Ernst, from Iowa; Deb Fischer, from Nebraska; Josh Hawley, from Missouri; John Hoeven, of North Dakota; Jim Inhofe, from Oklahoma; Ron Johnson, of Wisconsin; John Kennedy, Louisiana; Mike Lee, of Utah; Roger Marshall, from Kanasas; Jerry Moran, from Kansas; James Risch, from Idaho; Mike Rounds, South Dakota; Ben Sasse, from Nebraska; John Thune of South Dakota, Thom Tillis, North Carolina; Tommy Tuberville, Alabama; and Todd Young, of Indiana.
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The sanction of the conviction is supposed to be removal from office, but since Trump will be out of the White House by now, it’s unclear what Congress might do if he condemns him in addition to taking another vote for it. prevent standing for re-election. .
The Senate is expected to begin Trump’s trial on Jan.20 at 1 p.m., Politico first reported Thursday.
Mike Emanuel contributed to this report.
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