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McConnell votes to acquit then condemns Trump for Capitol siege

13 February 2021
 Dan Ackermann

After voting to acquit Donald Trump, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) condemned the former president as "practically and morally responsible for provoking the events" during the deadly Capitol siege on Jan. 6.

Why it matters: The Senate failed to reach the two-thirds majority necessary to convict Trump on charges of high crimes and misdemeanors, with a final vote of 57-43 cementing his acquittal. But in his post-vote speech, McConnell said Trump “didn’t get away with anything yet."

What he's saying: "Former President Trump’s actions preceding the riot were a disgraceful, disgraceful dereliction of duty,” McConnell said from the Senate floor.

  • Trump is “practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day, no question about it,” he added.
  • "If President Trump were still in office, I would have carefully considered whether the House managers proved their specific charge. By the strict criminal standard, the president’s speech probably was not incitement."
  • "However, in the context of impeachment, the Senate might have decided this was acceptable shorthand for the reckless actions that preceded the riot. But in this case, the question is moot because former President Trump is constitutionally not eligible for conviction."
  • “President Trump is still liable for everything he did while he was in office as an ordinary citizen, unless the statute of limitations has run. [He] didn’t get away with anything yet.”
  • "We have a criminal justice system in this country. We have civil litigation and former presidents are not immune from being accountable by either one."
  • "I believe the Senate was right not to grab power the Constitution doesn’t give us. And the Senate was right not to entertain some light speed sham process to try to outrun the loss of jurisdiction."

Our thought bubble via Axios' Margaret Talev: McConnell's post-vote speech will be parsed and dissected until its impact reveals itself.

  • Democrats will be furious because he essentially made their case for impeachment while arguing against it on a thin constitutional argument. Trump will hate it for obvious reasons. 
  • Does it lead to a censure vote or 14th Amendment vote? Does a prosecutor try to use it in criminal court? Or is it just a way for him to try to have it both ways?

Go deeper: Senate acquits Trump

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.