Tom Williams/Congressional Quarterly/Zuma
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) announced Wednesday that he would break from the Republican party line and vote to convict President Donald Trump of abuse of power in his impeachment trial.
In his speech on the Senate floor, Romney said that he felt bound by his oath before God to judge the president impartially, even though they share the same political party. “I knew at the outset that being tasked with judging the president, the leader of my own party, would be the most difficult decision I have ever faced,” he said through tears. “I was not wrong.”
“The president is guilty of an appalling abuse of public trust,” he added. “Corrupting an election to keep oneself in office is perhaps the most abusive and destructive violation of one’s oath of office that I can imagine.”
“Were I to ignore the evidence that has been presented and disregard what I believe my oath and the Constitution demands of me for the sake of a partisan end, it would, I fear, expose my character to history’s rebuke and the censure of my own conscience,” he said.
Romney has long been a critic of the Trump administration, and he is the only Republican senator who has announced that he will vote to convict the president. Still, Romney will vote to acquit the president on the second charge, obstruction of Congress, The Atlantic reports.
Rep. Justin Amash (I-Mich.), who broke from the Republican party in 2019, tweeted his support for Romney shortly after the senator’s announcement.
Thank you, @SenatorRomney, for upholding your oath to support and defend the Constitution. You will never regret putting your faith in God and doing right according to the law and your conscience.
— Justin Amash (@justinamash) February 5, 2020
Watch the video of Romney’s announcement below:
Senator Mitt Romney (R-Utah) just broke with the Republican party to vote for the removal of Donald Trump from the presidency. pic.twitter.com/wF2jM1BQb2
— Mother Jones (@MotherJones) February 5, 2020
