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“There’s no reasoning with people who basically are, you know, acting like members of a religious cult and when they leave office should be selling flowers at Dulles Airport.”
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That’s Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., the lead House impeachment manager, who said Sunday he had “no regrets” about how the second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump was handled, despite his acquittal.
In an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Raskin said the impeachment trial was a “dramatic success in historical terms.”
“We successfully prosecuted him and convicted him in the court of public opinion and the court of history,” he said.
“You know, remember, these Republicans who voted to acquit in the face of this mountain of unrefuted evidence were going to find some reason to do it. So, if we had charged dereliction of duty they would have said, ‘That’s not an impeachable offense,’” Raskin said. “So, you know what, we have no regrets at all. We left it totally out there on the floor of the U.S. Senate, and every senator knew exactly what happened.”
On Saturday, 57 senators — including seven Republicans — voted to convict Trump, far short of the 67 needed for a conviction.
Despite the acquittal, Trump could still face a federal investigation over the Jan. 6 Capitol siege. He also faces numerous other legal investigations, including from prosecutors in Georgia over possible election tampering and in New York over his financial dealings. Meanwhile, there is growing support from lawmakers of both parties for an independent investigation into the insurrection, similar to the 9/11 commission.
