Sen. Doug Jones (D-Ala.) said hell vote to convict President Donald Trump in the Senate impeachment trial on Feb. 6.
Jones, 65, was widely viewed as one of three Democrats who might vote to acquit Trump on at least one article of impeachment.
In a lengthy statement released on Wednesday morning, Jones said that hes studied the facts of the case for months, read thousands of pages of transcripts, watched videos of testimony given during the House impeachment inquiry, and reviewed history and precedent.
“In this case, the evidence clearly proves the President used the weight of his office and that of the United States government to seek to coerce a foreign government to interfere in our election for his personal political benefit,” Jones said.
“The Presidents actions placed his personal interests well above the national interests and threatened the security of the United States, our allies in Europe, and our ally in Ukraine. His actions were more than simply inappropriate. They were an abuse of power.”
Jones also said he would vote to convict Trump on the second article of impeachment, obstruction of Congress, even though he “struggled to understand the Houses strategy” of not pursuing some witnesses and documents, then demanding the Senate pursue those witnesses and documents.
“After careful consideration of the evidence developed in the hearings, the public disclosures, the legal precedents, and the trial, I believe the President deliberately and unconstitutionally obstructed Congress by refusing to cooperate with the investigation in any way,” Jones said.
Jones also in his statement decried “the partisan nature” of the impeachment proceedings and said Congress “must find a way to rise above the things that divide us and find the common good.”
Trump will almost certainly be acquitted later Wednesday, but people were closely watching Democratic senators like Jones who were mulling voting to acquit the president. The Houses impeachment vote saw four Democrats either vote “present” or vote against at least one article of impeachment, and the situation prompted Rep. Jeff Van Drew of New JerRead More – Source
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The Epoch Times
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