BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) – Louisiana Republican Senator Bill Cassidy on Tuesday voted along with Democrats to end Donald Trump’s impeachment process, a startling reversal that Cassidy says was a response to the former president’s lawyers being “horrible”. argued their case.
Cassidy was one of six Republican senators to side with the Democrats on whether a former president can be tried after leaving office. The Senator’s position in Louisiana was a switch from January, when he voted to end the proceedings on the grounds that they were unconstitutional.
The vote quickly drew criticism from Republicans in the senator’s highly conservative state. But Cassidy said Trump’s lawyers were not defending their case. While the Democrats’ impeachment managers “focused, they were organized,” relying on precedents and legal scientists, Trump’s team was “disorganized, random, had nothing,” he said.
“They talked about a lot of things, but they didn’t talk about the issue,” Cassidy said after the vote.
Still, the senator said his decision to go ahead with the trial should not be taken as a sign that he will later vote to condemn the former president. In recent phone calls with reporters, including one Tuesday morning, Cassidy has declined to say whether he believes Trump has committed an accusatory crime.
“I have not yet decided how to vote,” he said.
Trump is the first president to be charged with impeachment after leaving office. The House accused him of instigating an uprising because of his role in the January 6 siege of the Capitol. Hundreds of rioters looted the building to try to stop Democrat Joe Biden’s certification of victory, a domestic assault on the nation’s seat that had never been seen before. Five people died.
The Louisiana Republican Party quickly released a statement on Tuesday criticizing Cassidy for his vote and praising Louisiana junior GOP senator John Kennedy for voting against continuing the impeachment trial. The Louisiana GOP said it was “deeply disappointed” by Cassidy’s vote.
“We believe that an impeachment lawsuit against a private citizen is not only an unconstitutional act, but also an attack on the foundation of American democracy, which will have far-reaching and unforeseen consequences for our republic,” the party said.
Republican Representative Mike Johnson from Louisiana said he was “surprised” by Cassidy’s voice and suggested it was causing a stir in their ruby state.
“I haven’t spoken to him, but I can tell you that a lot of people from home are calling me about it now,” Johnson said.
Cassidy won re-election to a six-year term this fall, giving him some time to make amends with his party. But he’s already been criticized for accepting the Electoral College vote for Biden and for recognizing the Democratic president’s victory weeks before many of his peers.
A local Republican sorority sent Cassidy a letter in December telling him they felt “ betrayed ” after he stated that Biden had won the presidential election.
Kennedy, due for re-election next year, has made statements declaring the impeachment trial unconstitutional, calling it “ a thinly disguised attempt by our country’s uber elites, who look down on most Americans, to take on President Trump. and not President Biden. “
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AP Congressional Correspondent Lisa Mascaro in Washington contributed to this report.