Alexander: 'I'm going to vote to acquit'
Sen. Lamar Alexander said he plans to vote to acquit President Donald Trump in the Senate impeachment trial, citing concerns over establishing a “perpetual impeachment” in the House and “immobilizing the presidency.”
“I'm going to vote to acquit. I'm very concerned about any action that we could take that would establish a perpetual impeachment in the House of Representatives whenever the House was a different party than the president. That would immobilize the Senate,” the 79-year-old Tennessee Republican said in an interview set to air Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
The retiring senator invoked the framers of the Constitution to express disdain over a situation “where a partisan majority in the House of either party can stop the government.”
A swing vote ahead of a key vote Friday on whether to bring new witnesses in the trial, Alexander voted against the move, in part because he contended it was too close to the November election in which voters can decide the president’s fate.
Asked if it would be helpful for people to decide if they had more information, Alexander replied, “If you have eight witnesses who say someone left the scene of an accident, why do you need nine?”
Democrats had argued witnesses could have brought to light new details about the president’s decision to delay military aid to Ukraine.
The final vote on the two articles of impeachment is set for 4 p.m. on Wednesday and is expected to lead to Trump's acquittal.
