The senate acquitted President Donald Trump on two articles on impeachment, ending the inevitable yet bitterly fought trial that will shape the President’s legacy.
The final day of the impeachment, however, met a shocking plot twist when Senator Mitt Romney voted to convict the President of abuse of power.
The Utah Republican was the sole Republican to vote against Trump of the first article of impeachment, joining the Democrats in a 52-48 not guilty vote.
He did however, voted to acquit the President on the second article of impeachment, which made it a 53-47 acquittal.
The verdict marks the end of the four-month impeachment process that heated up partisan tension already present during the Trump administration.
This friction was clearly seen at the State of the Union address, when the President seemed to ignore the house speaker, who in turn ripped up the President’s copy of the speech.
The fight is far from over, as both parties gear up for the nearing Presidential campaign.
As Trump will highly likely claim victory, he claims that he will be claiming victory over an impeachment hoax.
What Romney did was to deny Trump of a purely partisan outcome on impeachment, unlike the bipartisan vote in the House.
According to Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham, Romney’s act is a an act of one failed Republican Presidential candidate.
She also added that the Democrat-concocted impeachment attempt ended with a full-vindication and exoneration of the President.
During Romney’s floor speech announcing his vote, he described his vote as “the most difficult decision I have ever faced”, and how his faith guided him to convict the President.
In his explanation, he said that “corrupting an election to keep oneself in office is perhaps the most abusive and destructive violation of one’s oath of office that I can imagine.”