Editor-in-Chief Orlando Angelone

The long awaited verdict in the Impeachment trial of President Donald J. Trump was finally handed down on February Fifth, with the Senate voting 52 - 48 on the First Article of Impeachment claiming abuse of power, and 53 - 48 on the Second Article of Impeachment, which claimed obstruction of Congress.

The votes came after weeks of a heated trial overseen by Chief Justice of the Supreme Court John Roberts. It saw the prosecutors, headed up by Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA 28) go up against the defense team of the President, which was fronted by a bevy of lawyers loyal to the President.

For hours the two teams argued, with the argument not being over whether the President's actions were illegal, but whether or not they were impeachable. Congressman Schiff and the rest of the Democratic Prosecution argued that the President had far exceeded the bar for what is impeachable, with Schiff saying that, “History will not be kind to Donald Trump,” continuing, “If you find that the House has proved its case, and still vote to acquit, your name will be tied to his with a cord of steel and for all of history. But if you find the courage to stand up to him, to speak the awful truth to his rank falsehood, your place will be among the Davids who took on Goliath—if only you will say, ‘Enough.'”

He continued on by saying about the founding fathers that, “They gave us the tools to do the job, a remedy as powerful as the evil it was meant to constrain: impeachment… They meant it to be used rarely, but they put it in the Constitution for a reason: for a man who would sell out his country for a political power, for a man who would threaten the integrity of our elections, for a man who would invite foreign interference in our affairs, for a man who would undermine our national security and that of our allies, for a man like Donald J. Trump.”

The Defense Team countered this by simply stating that the President had not crossed the line into an impeachable offence.

Once the day came for the Senate to vote on the charges, it was all but certain that there were not enough votes to convict the President, which would require 67. There was a last minute shock when Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) announced that he would be voting to convict on the first article, abuse of power. By doing this Romney became the first Senator in history to convict a president who is in their own party.

Overall, this can be seen as nothing but a major disappointment for the Democrats who were hoping to get a big win over President Trump, and a major victory for President Trump, with him parading around claiming victory. But as of now it is still unknown how the trial and its outcome will affect President Donald J. Trump and his approval rating.