email from Progress Iowa
Progress Iowa <press@progressiowa.org>
For Immediate Release: February 13, 2021
Contact: Ivy Beckenholdt, (515) 259-0394
Des Moines, Iowa — Progress Iowa executive director Matt Sinovic issued the following statement after Senators Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst voted not guilty in the impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump:
“Iowans and Americans are united against any elected official or leader who tries to harm us. Former President Trump spent years trying to divide us with their hateful rhetoric, and the lies he told led to a deadly attack on our democracy and our capitol in an attempt to overthrow the results of a democratic election.”
“A bipartisan majority of Senators voted to convict the former President, with fifty seven concluding that Trump did, in fact, merit a guilty vote for inciting an insurrection. Seven Republicans joined forty eight Democrats and two Independents in making this conclusion, but sixty seven votes are required to convict.”
“We deserve leaders who demonstrate the courage of real convictions and an undisputed allegiance to upholding our freedoms. Senators Grassley and Ernst fell far short of that standard today. They both voted not guilty, and could hardly contain their disdain for the entire proceeding, despite sitting in the Senate chamber that had been attacked, and behind some of the desks that had been ransacked by the insurrectionists.”
“With their votes today, Senators Grassley and Ernst paved the way for a future president to violate the Constitution and their duty to our country and get away with it, opening the door for future leaders to fuel another violent attack on our country in order to hold onto power.”