Senators from Kansas vote not guilty on impeachment

U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, R- Kansas, and U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kansas, on Wednesday voted to acquit President Donald J. Trump at the Senate impeachment trial.

The Senate voted to acquit on a 52-48 on the first article and 53-47 to acquit on the second article.

Sen. Moran released a statement today about the vote:

“First, in order to avoid a system of government where the president serves at the political pleasure of Congress, the Framers intended impeachment and removal to be reserved for extreme and rare situations. The alleged facts contained in the articles and presented by the impeachment managers do not rise to this level,” Sen. Moran stated.

“Second, the House failed in its prosecutorial role by not presenting specific statutory charges against the president. Our Constitution demands of the justice system that prosecutors bring specific charges and prove each element of those charges beyond a reasonable doubt. In this case, neither of the articles passed by the House contain statutory allegations to which the Senate could determine whether the elements for conviction were met. On the floor, the House managers argued that the statutory crime of bribery was contained in the first Article of Impeachment related to abuse of power. In addition to the fact that there is no evidence in the record that satisfies the statutory elements of bribery, the Senate cannot substitute its own charges or charges made by House managers on the floor for those contained within the four corners of the House-passed Articles of Impeachment.

“Third, the House failed to meet its evidentiary burden and attempted to shift that burden to the Senate. Unwilling to give the judicial system the time to answer important questions of privilege in regards to specific witnesses that the House managers claimed were key to the case, the House moved forward with impeachment. The House managers argued at the beginning of the trial that they had overwhelming evidence supporting impeachment. It was surprising then that the House managers attempted to burden the Senate with issuing subpoenas and taking testimony from those witnesses that the House failed to pursue. Regardless, additional evidence or witnesses would not change the material underlying facts describing the president’s actions. These actions are not ‘high crimes and misdemeanors’ as described by the Constitution, and therefore, I voted no on conviction and removal of the president.”

Sen. Roberts made a speech on Tuesday about his vote.

“I will vote for acquittal,” Sen. Roberts said. “The prosecution did not prove President Trump committed any impeachable offense. I hope after this matter is concluded on Wednesday, the entire Congress can get back to the important work of the people.”
Sen. Roberts’ speech is on video at https://senatorroberts.app.box.com/s/yvvyso6p5jcqzh0mqxek5rolus8155tk.