Alaska Republican Sens. Dan Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski have split in their vote for the article of impeachment brought against former President Donald Trump by the House of Representatives.
Sen. Dan Sullivan voted not guilty on the article of impeachment, citing that the impeachment’s purpose is to remove an official from office and that, in this case, the purpose was achieved.
Sullivan released a statement saying, “I strongly believe the Senate does not have jurisdiction to try a former President who is now a private citizen. The Senate claiming that jurisdiction contradicts the intent of the Framers to the detriment of our constitutional order. Additionally, the House Managers provided the former President with no due process—and argued none was required—and side-stepped the First Amendment defense of his speech.”
He also said, “However horrible the violence was—and how angry I have been about it—I believe that it was imperative, for the future of our country and our democracy, to be as dispassionate and impartial about this vote as possible.”
On the other hand, Sen. Lisa Murkowski was one of several Republican senators who voted to convict Trump in the impeachment trial.
The Alaska Republican senator said that she voted to convict the former president in the impeachment trial because he ordered his supporters to march on the Capitol on January 6th, then took no actions to stop them when things got violent.
Murkowski said, “When President Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol, breached both chambers of Congress, and interrupted the certification of Electoral College votes, he took no action for hours. The evidence presented at the trial was clear: President Trump was watching events unfold live, just as the entire country was. Even after the violence had started, as protestors chanted ‘Hang Mike Pence’ inside the Capitol, President Trump, aware of what was happening, tweeted that the Vice President had failed the country. Vice President Pence was attempting to fulfill his oath and his constitutional duty with the certification of Electoral College votes.”
Murkowski continued, “By inciting the insurrection and violent events that culminated on January 6, President Trump’s actions and words were not protected free speech. I honor our constitutional rights and consider the freedom of speech as one of the most paramount freedoms, but that right does not extend to the President of the United States inciting violence.”
Former President Trump was acquitted in a 57-43 vote, 10 short of the two-thirds necessary for the Senate to convict.