Former President Donald Trump has received enough not guilty votes to be acquitted in his Senate impeachment trial, which requires a two-thirds vote for conviction. Now, he has been acquitted.
The move to the trial’s finishing stages was a final twist after the House managers’ surprise request for witnesses had appeared to extend the trial indefinitely.
The Senate voted 55 to 45 to consider witnesses — with five Republican joining Democrats — after the managers said they wanted to hear from Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, a Washington Republican who had told CNN new details about House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s phone call with Trump.
After several hours of intense negotiations between Senate leaders, the managers and Trump’s legal team, the managers agreed to enter Herrera Beutler’s statement into the trial record as evidence and move forward without hearing from witnesses.
