U.S. Senator Mitt Romney Photo: U.S. Senate

SALT LAKE CITY — On Saturday, Utah GOP Sen. Mitt Romney and 6 other Republican Senators joined Democrats in voting to convict former president Donald Trump. The Senate ultimately voted to acquit former President Donald Trump on a charge of incitement of insurrection, bringing an end to the second impeachment trial for Trump. The final vote was 57 to 43, 10 short of the 67 votes needed to secure a conviction.

Senator Romney issued the following statement to support his vote to convict.

After careful consideration of the respective counsels’ arguments, I have concluded that President Trump is guilty of the charge made by the House of Representatives. President Trump attempted to corrupt the election by pressuring the Secretary of State of Georgia to falsify the election results in his state. President Trump incited the insurrection against Congress by using the power of his office to summon his supporters to Washington on January 6th and urging them to march on the Capitol during the counting of electoral votes. He did this despite the obvious and well known threats of violence that day. President Trump also violated his oath of office by failing to protect the Capitol, the Vice President, and others in the Capitol. Each and every one of these conclusions compels me to support conviction.