We all know what Trump’s defense will be. Maybe this time it won’t work.
The second impeachment acquittal of Donald Trump was more wrenching than the first, and the first was bad enough. Explaining his reasons for not calling witnesses in the first impeachment, Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander, who had already announced his retirement, basically acknowledged the president’s guilt: “I don’t need to hear any more evidence to decide that the president did what he’s charged with doing.” He voted to acquit, though it’s worth recalling that the first impeachment was for an offense not too dissimilar to the second—attempting to manipulate the election by knee-capping his chief political rival with extorted dirt.
This year, there has been some cheering about the 10 House and seven Senate Republicans who voted for impeachment. It’s a record number of members of a president’s own party who have voted against him, we are told. All honor to those who took the difficult path.
But, good God! The president attempted to steal the election. He launched an insurrection against the Congress. He stood by as people lost their lives and as allies begged him to intervene. He enjoyed the spectacle. They had it coming, he tweeted at 6 p.m. on January 6. “These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away from great patriots who have been badly & unfairly treated for so long.” That only a handful of Republicans could vote to convict him is a sign of deep rot.
It also leaves millions of Americans who thirst for justice unsatisfied. Few things are more maddening than the villain who goes unpunished. And so we look to other possible avenues of justice. As impeachment manager Ted Lieu pointed out, an acquittal means Trump can run again, and lose again,and claim fraud again, and incite violence again. Barring Trump from seeking any office would have been both morally satisfying and a necessary insurance policy against his further depravity.
https://thebulwark.com/will-trump-finally-face-accountability/