{"id":1735,"date":"2020-02-06T01:01:00","date_gmt":"2020-02-06T01:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adhc.lib.ua.edu\/pandemicbook\/?page_id=1735"},"modified":"2022-02-21T23:04:46","modified_gmt":"2022-02-21T23:04:46","slug":"02-06","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/adhc.lib.ua.edu\/pandemicbook\/02-06\/","title":{"rendered":"02-06"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Thursday, February 6<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tUS Cases 12
US Deaths 0<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Feb 5: Senators urge<\/a><\/span> the administration to take the virus more seriously. The Senate acquits President Trump after voting against subpoenaing witnesses, including John Bolton. Republican Mitt Romney is the first senator in history to vote to oust a president from the same political party. <\/p>\n

Feb 6:  Chinese doctor and whistleblower, Dr. Li Wenliang,<\/span> <\/span>dies from COVID<\/a><\/span>. <\/span>First actual COVID death in the U.S. happens. Autopsies done in mid-April on the bodies of two people who died at home on Feb. 6 and Feb. 17 <\/span>showed they were positive for the virus<\/a>. Trump celebrates his <\/span>acquittal in his Senate impeachment trial<\/a><\/span>, Chinese authorities begin <\/span>house to house searches<\/a><\/span> to find people who are sick with the new coronavirus. The new England Journal of Medicine backtracks on an earlier preprint saying that coronavirus symptoms could be spread asymptomatically. It concedes that it does not have irrefutable proof. The medical community is left unsure.*<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDonald Trump celebrates his acquittal at the National Prayer Breakfast on Feb. 6. \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPhotographer: Oliver Contreras\/Sipa\/Bloomberg\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tVoice of America in Cambodia shares photo of a man holding a sign reading \"AMERICA What Have We Become?\" during a protest against the impeachment acquittal of U.S. President Donald Trump outside city hall in LA\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tVOA, Feb 6, 2020 https:\/\/www.voacambodia.com\/a\/february-6-2020-day-in-photos\/5278141.html\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Sen. Romney\u2019s full statement on Trump’s first impeachment trial, Feb 5, 2020<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Donald Trump, State of the Union Speech, February 5, 2020, https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Xb1xHhGJjJk<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Mitt Romney, “An Appalling Abuse of Public Trust”\u00a0<\/strong>
-Transcript of Romney speech (watch above), February 5, 2020. Mitt Romney was the sole Republican to vote to convict President Trump on one article of impeachment.

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The Constitution is at the foundation of our Republic\u2019s success, and we each strive not to lose sight of our promise to defend it. The Constitution established the vehicle of impeachment that has occupied both houses of Congress for these many days. We have labored to faithfully execute our responsibilities to it. We have arrived at different judgments, but I hope we respect each other\u2019s good faith.<\/i><\/i><\/p>

The allegations made in the articles of impeachment are very serious. As a Senator-juror, I swore an oath, before God, to exercise \u201cimpartial justice.\u201d I am a profoundly religious person. I take an oath before God as enormously consequential. I knew from the outset that being tasked with judging the President, the leader of my own party, would be the most difficult decision I have ever faced. I was not wrong.<\/i><\/p>

The House Managers presented evidence supporting their case; the White House counsel disputed that case. In addition, the President\u2019s team presented three defenses: first, that there can be no impeachment without a statutory crime; second, that the Bidens\u2019 conduct justified the President\u2019s actions; and third that the judgement of the President\u2019s actions should be left to the voters. Let me first address each of those defenses.<\/i><\/p>

The historic meaning of the words \u201chigh crimes and misdemeanors,\u201d the writings of the Founders and my own reasoned judgement convince me that a president can indeed commit acts against the public trust that are so egregious that while they are not statutory crimes, they would demand removal from office. To maintain that the lack of a codified and comprehensive list of all the outrageous acts that a president might conceivably commit renders Congress powerless to remove a president defies reason.<\/i><\/p>

The President\u2019s counsel noted that Vice President Biden appeared to have a conflict of interest when he undertook an effort to remove the Ukrainian Prosecutor General. If he knew of the exorbitant compensation his son was receiving from a company actually under investigation, the Vice President should have recused himself. While ignoring a conflict of interest is not a crime, it is surely very wrong.[read_more id=”1″ more=”Read more” less=”Read less”]<\/i><\/p>

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With regards to Hunter Biden, taking excessive advantage of his father\u2019s name is unsavory but also not a crime. Given that in neither the case of the father nor the son was any evidence presented by the President\u2019s counsel that a crime had been committed, the President\u2019s insistence that they be investigated by the Ukrainians is hard to explain other than as a political pursuit. There is no question in my mind that were their names not Biden, the President would never have done what he did.<\/i><\/p>

The defense argues that the Senate should leave the impeachment decision to the voters. While that logic is appealing to our democratic instincts, it is inconsistent with the Constitution\u2019s requirement that the Senate, not the voters, try the president. Hamilton explained that the Founders\u2019 decision to invest senators with this obligation rather than leave it to voters was intended to minimize\u2014to the extent possible\u2014the partisan sentiments of the public.<\/i><\/p>

This verdict is ours to render. The people will judge us for how well and faithfully we fulfilled our duty. The grave question the Constitution tasks senators to answer is whether the President committed an act so extreme and egregious that it rises to the level of a \u201chigh crime and misdemeanor.\u201d<\/i><\/p>

Yes, he did.<\/i><\/p>

The President asked a foreign government to investigate his political rival.<\/i><\/p>

The President withheld vital military funds from that government to press it to do so.<\/i><\/p>

The President delayed funds for an American ally at war with Russian invaders.<\/i><\/p>

The President\u2019s purpose was personal and political.<\/i><\/p>

Accordingly, the President is guilty of an appalling abuse of the public trust.<\/i><\/p>

What he did was not \u201cperfect\u201d\u2014 No, it was a flagrant assault on our electoral rights, our national security interests, and our fundamental values. Corrupting an election to keep oneself in office is perhaps the most abusive and destructive violation of one\u2019s oath of office that I can imagine.<\/i><\/p>

In the last several weeks, I have received numerous calls and texts. Many demand that, in their words, \u201cI stand with the team.\u201d I can assure you that that thought has been very much on my mind. I support a great deal of what the President has done. I have voted with him 80% of the time. But my promise before God to apply impartial justice required that I put my personal feelings and biases aside. Were I to ignore the evidence that has been presented, and disregard what I believe my oath and the Constitution demands of me for the sake of a partisan end, it would, I fear, expose my character to history\u2019s rebuke and the censure of my own conscience.<\/i><\/p>

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I am aware that there are people in my party and in my state who will strenuously disapprove of my decision, and in some quarters, I will be vehemently denounced. I am sure to hear abuse from the President and his supporters. Does anyone seriously believe I would consent to these consequences other than from an inescapable conviction that my oath before God demanded it of me?<\/i><\/p>

I sought to hear testimony from John Bolton not only because I believed he could add context to the charges, but also because I hoped that what he said might raise reasonable doubt and thus remove from me the awful obligation to vote for impeachment.<\/i><\/p>

<\/i>Like each member of this deliberative body, I love our country. I believe that our Constitution was inspired by Providence. I am convinced that freedom itself is dependent on the strength and vitality of our national character. As it is with each senator, my vote is an act of conviction. We have come to different conclusions, fellow senators, but I trust we have all followed the dictates of our conscience.<\/i><\/p>

I acknowledge that my verdict will not remove the President from office. The results of this Senate Court will in fact be appealed to a higher court: the judgement of the American people. Voters will make the final decision, just as the President\u2019s lawyers have implored. My vote will likely be in the minority in the Senate. But irrespective of these things, with my vote, I will tell my children and their children that I did my duty to the best of my ability, believing that my country expected it of me. I will only be one name among many, no more or less, to future generations of Americans who look at the record of this trial. They will note merely that I was among the senators who determined that what the President did was wrong, grievously wrong.<\/i><\/p>

We\u2019re all footnotes at best in the annals of history. But in the most powerful nation on earth, the nation conceived in liberty and justice, that is distinction enough for any citizen. [\/read_more]<\/i><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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