Trump passes his second impeachment and plays with returning to politics

Former president Donald Trump passed his second impeachment trial on Saturday when he was acquitted by the Senate of the charge of "inciting an insurrection" in the assault on the Capitol on 6 January and, immediately afterwards, issued a statement alluding to the possibility of returning to politics.

In a fleeting impeachment trial that lasted only five days, the script played out as expected and Senate Republicans, constituted as the jury in this impeachment trial, saved Trump and prevented the Democrats from gaining enough support to convict him.

Only seven Republicans voted in favour of convicting Trump of "inciting insurrection": Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Mitt Romney, Ben Sasse, Bill Cassidy, Pat Toomey and Richard Burr.

The final score was 57 in favour of conviction and 43 against, insufficient numbers for the Democrats who needed a majority of 67 votes to sanction the former president, something that from the beginning seemed highly improbable due to the influence that Trump maintains in his voter base.

Despite the blow to the Democrats, this is the presidential impeachment that has received the most bipartisan support of the four in US history, a list that includes the processes against Andrew Johnson (1865-1869), Bill Clinton (1993-2001) and the two against Trump.

The Republican minority leader in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, a very influential figure in the party and who had initially been open to a conviction, voted in favour of acquitting the former president.

However, this morning, McConnell's team leaked to the press that he planned to acquit the former president, which certainly swayed the vote of some of his co-religionists.

After the vote, McConnell surprised with a very harsh speech against Trump in which he considered him "practically and morally responsible" for what happened in the Capitol; but, he argued that he should be accountable to Justice and not in the Senate.

"He (Trump) hasn't gotten off the hook yet. We have a criminal system in this country, we have a civil system. And no former president is immune from either," McConnell said to silence on the floor of the House, one of the places attacked by the former president's supporters on 6 January.

Despite the predictability of the outcome, the last few hours were shrouded in drama due to unexpected revelations by Republican Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler, a moderate who was one of the 10 Republicans who voted in favour of impeachment in the lower house.

On Friday night, Herrera Beutler unveiled in a statement imploring details of a phone call between Trump and House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy during the 6 January raid on the Capitol.

Herrera Beutler, who knows the contents of the call because McCarthy told her about it, claims that Trump refused to help lawmakers when a mob stormed the Capitol.

Specifically, according to the lawmaker, when McCarthy contacted the president to ask his supporters to call off the assault, he refused. "Well, Kevin, I guess these people are angrier about the election than you are," Trump reportedly replied to McCarthy.

These revelations prompted a surprise vote by the US Senate on Saturday morning in favour of subpoenaing witnesses, although it ultimately chose to back off from a decision that would have prolonged the impeachment trial by weeks.

The day ended in acquittal and just minutes after the Senate announced the result, Trump issued a statement to celebrate and to warn that his "Make America Great Again" movement has only "just begun".

"Our historic, patriotic and beautiful movement to 'Make America Great Again' has only just begun. In the months ahead, I have much to share with you and look forward to continuing our incredible journey together to achieve American greatness for all of our people. There has never been anything like it!" he said in a statement.

With those words, Trump toyed with the possibility of returning to politics without offering specifics, although he has previously opened the door to running for president in 2024.

His statement did not include any condemnation of what happened during the assault by his supporters on the Capitol on 6 January, one of the most convulsive days in US history, in which five people died, including a policeman.

This process will go down in history in two ways: because it made Trump the first US president to face and be acquitted in two impeachment trials - after the one held a year ago for his pressure on Ukraine - and because never before has a president been impeached when he is no longer in office.