WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) released the below statement following her vote to acquit President Donald J. Trump:
"Our Constitution makes clear that only a particularly grave act – “treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors” – would justify a senator voting to reverse the will of the voters and remove from office the person they chose to lead our nation.
“There is no doubt that the House impeachment process was partisan, political, and denied President Trump his basic due process rights. Time and again, the House demanded that the Senate do things that the House itself neglected to do. Regardless of the failings of House Democrats, it is the Senate’s job—and indeed our oath—to do impartial justice. In keeping with that oath, I supported a trial process that was modeled on the Senate’s precedent from 1999 when it received the support of all 100 Senators.
“I listened with an open mind to the arguments made by both the House managers and the president’s attorneys. I read the trial briefs submitted by both parties, and I listened as both sides answered questions from the Senate.
“Having considered the arguments and evidence, the House’s articles of impeachment do not provide me with a sufficient rationale for reversing the 2016 election and removing President Trump from the ballot in 2020. That is especially true considering the partisan nature of this impeachment process. In the cases of President Nixon and President Clinton, there was significant support from House members of the president’s party for opening impeachment inquiries. Not a single member of the president’s party voted in the House of Representatives to start an impeachment inquiry or to adopt either article of impeachment against President Trump.
“The Senate has never in our history removed a president from office following an impeachment trial, and our founding fathers recognized that impeachment should not be used as a blunt instrument of partisanship. Alexander Hamilton wrote in Federalist 65 that in impeachment, ‘there will always be the greatest danger that the decision will be regulated more by the comparative strength of parties, than by the real demonstrations of innocence or guilt.’
“Speaker Pelosi said in March 2019 that we should not go down the path of impeachment unless the case was ‘compelling and overwhelming and bipartisan’ because ‘it divides the country.’ Instead, the partisan attempt by the House of Representatives to alter two of our elections falls dramatically short of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump committed an impeachable offense. Speaker Pelosi was right last March—this partisan impeachment has divided the country. And, removing the President from office after this divisive process would do even greater harm to our nation.
“The Senate heard testimony from witnesses in 192 video segments and received more than 28,000 pages of documents. The House record, including the testimony of 17 witnesses, was placed before the Senate.
“Reviewing this evidence and listening to counsel on both sides, I do not believe the House proved an offense that would justify the grave step of overturning the 2016 election and taking away from West Virginians the ability to decide for themselves in the 2020 election. That is why today, I voted to find President Trump 'not guilty’ on both articles. As West Virginians have made clear to me throughout this impeachment process, it is time to move on from this partisan charade and instead focus on real issues of importance to the American people.”
Senator Capito spoke on the Senate floor yesterday where she explained her vote. Click here to watch Senator Capito’s full Senate floor remarks.
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