Democrats "have no regrets at all" about their approach to former President Trump's second impeachment trial, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) said on Sunday's "Meet the Press."
Driving the news: Trump was acquitted on Saturday when the Senate failed to reach a two-thirds majority vote necessary to convict. However, seven Republicans joined Democrats to vote "guilty" making the final 57-43 vote the most bipartisan margin in favor of conviction in history.
- When asked about the possible merits if House impeachment managers had narrowed their strategy to charge Trump with dereliction of duty, Raskin said: "You know, remember, these Republicans who voted to acquit in the face of this mountain of unrefuted evidence were going to find some reason to do it. So, if we had charged dereliction of duty they would have said, 'That's not an impeachable offense.'"
- "So, you know what, we have no regrets at all. We left it totally out there on the floor of the U.S. Senate, and every senator knew exactly what happened. And just go back and listen to McConnell’s speech. Everybody was convinced of the case we put forward," Raskin said.
- "I thought that I successfully demolish them at the trial but, you know, there's no reasoning with people who basically are, you know, acting like members of a religious cult and when they leave office should be selling flowers at Dulles Airport, you know."
Of note: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who voted to acquit Trump, condemned the former president's actions around the Jan. 6 Capitol siege as a "disgraceful dereliction of duty." Trump is “practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day, no question about it,” McConnell said on the Senate floor on Saturday night.
