Republican senator switches vote at impeachment trial
"I said I'd be an impartial juror. Anyone listening to those arguments - the House managers were focused, they were organized, they relied upon both precedent, the Constitution, and legal scholars. They made a compelling argument," Cassidy told reporters on Capitol Hill on Tuesday (February 9).
Cassidy also had harsh words for Trump's defense attorneys.
"President Trump's team were disorganized, they did everything they could but to talk about the question at hand. And when they talked about it, they kind of glided over it, almost as if they were embarrassed of their arguments. Now, if I'm an impartial juror and one side is doing a great job, and the other side is doing a terrible job on the issue at hand, as an impartial juror, I'm going to vote for the side that did a good job."
Trump is on trial in the U.S. Senate after the U.S. House of Representatives voted to indict him for inciting insurrection and sparking a violent mob that invaded the Capitol on January 6th.
Lawyers for the former president argued that their client is no longer in office, and not subject to impeachment.
Senator Cassidy, who previously voted to dismiss the case against Trump, changed his vote Tuesday in favor of proceeding. He joined five other Republicans who voted with Democrats that the impeachment was proper.
