Now that the Senate has acquitted President Donald Trump of charges that he abused power and obstructed Congress, Rhode Island’s two U.S. senators say it’s time to turn the page.
Democrats Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse spoke during a media availability at T.F. Green Airport on Thursday, saying Congress now has to focus on ensuring the integrity of the 2020 presidential election.
“We know clearly from the intelligence community that the Russians were involved in the 2016 election,’ said Reed. ‘The President does not like to recognize that. This coming election has to be fair. It has to be without interference. That’s something we have to focus on intensively over the next several months.”
Whitehouse says Republican senators didn’t conduct a proper impeachment trial, as they failed to call for new witness testimony.
“It was not the Senate’s finest hour, by any stretch,’ said Whitehouse. ‘A lot of colleagues who I have admiration for had to do things that were very unpleasant and wrong.”
Even though the Senate failed to convict President Trump, Whitehouse doesn’t think the impeachment trial was a waste of time.
“It’s never a waste of time to do your constitutional duty,’ he said. ‘When you see the uncontested facts here, it would’ve been a disgrace had we not proceeded. The fact that we ran into a partisan wall is something we could not do anything about.”
Reed said Senate Democrats will continue to try to hold President Trump accountable for his actions.
“There are still many questions that are left outstanding about his conduct,’ said Reed. ‘We won’t turn a blind eye to what appear to be violations of the law. But we have to find a way to move forward on a bipartisan basis.”
