Trump acquitted: Senate votes ‘not guilty’ on impeachment articles, Trump responds (live updates)

Utah Sen. Mitt Romney broke ranks with Republicans and voted to convict Trump on the first of the two articles of impeachment, abuse of power. That vote was 52-48.

The second article, obstruction of Congress, fell strictly along party lines 53-47.

After a months-long investigation, an impeachment on two charges, a Senate trial and Wednesday’s final vote, the result was all but a foregone conclusion -- Donald Trump will still be the president of the United States on Thursday.

Trump was impeached in December by the House on charges he pressured Ukraine to announce an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter by dangling a White House meeting for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the release of military aid that had been held back.

Live updates

12:20 p.m. ET Feb. 6, 2020: President Donald Trump speaks from the White House.

A response from the White House

5:39 p.m. ET Feb. 5, 2020: White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham released this statement Wednesday afternoon:

Today, the sham impeachment attempt concocted by Democrats ended in the full vindication and exoneration of President Donald J. Trump. As we have said all along, he is not guilty.

The Senate voted to reject the baseless articles of impeachment, and only the President’s political opponents – all Democrats, and one failed Republican presidential candidate – voted for the manufactured impeachment articles.

In what has now become a consistent tradition for Democrats, this was yet another witch-hunt that deprived the President of his due process rights and was based on a series of lies.

Rep. Adam Schiff lied to Congress and the American people with a totally made-up statement about the President’s phone call. Will there be no retribution?

Speaker Nancy Pelosi also lied to the American people about the need to swiftly pass impeachment articles they dreamt up, only to sit on them for a month before sending over to the Senate.

In the Senate, the Democrats continued to make their political motivations clear – Rep. Schiff proclaimed the issues “cannot be decided at the ballot box” – proving once again they think they know better than the voters of this country.

This entire effort by the Democrats was aimed at overturning the results of the 2016 election and interfering with the 2020 election.

Throughout this wholly corrupt process, President Trump successfully advanced the interests of the United States and remained focused on the issues that matter to Americans. He spent his time achieving real victories for the people of this country, and the Democrats – once again – have nothing to show for their fraudulent schemes.

The President is pleased to put this latest chapter of shameful behavior by the Democrats in the past and looks forward to continuing his work on behalf of the American people in 2020 and beyond.

Speaking tomorrow

President Trump responds

A ‘colossal political mistake’

4:55 p.m. ET Feb. 5, 2020: McConnell is holding a press conference after the vote. He says he has known House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, and she made a big mistake going against her political instincts.

The final moments

Thanks all around

4:39 p.m. ET Feb. 5, 2020: McConnell and Schumer thank the Senate pages and the chief justice.

Roberts reads a statement thanking the Senate parliamentarian and her deputy and all the senators. He invites them to drop by the Supreme Court to see an argument or “to escape one.”

Not guilty on the second article

4:30 p.m. ET Feb. 5, 2020: On a vote of 53-47, the Senate finds that Trump is not guilty of the second impeachment article.

Romney voted for the second article of impeachment. No one else changed his or her vote from their vote on the first article.

The second article is being read

4:20 p.m. ET Feb. 5, 2020: The Senate clerk is reading the second article of impeachment. Sen. Romney was the only Republican to vote guilty for the first article.

Not guilty on the first article

4:16 p.m. ET Feb. 5, 2020: On a vote of 52-48, the Senate finds that Trump is not guilty of impeachment article one.

Chief Justice calls for the vote

4:10 p.m. ET Feb. 5, 2020: The vote has begun on the first article of impeachment. Each senator is standing to give their "guilty or not guilty" verdict.

The articles are being read

4:05 p.m. ET Feb. 5, 2020: The first article of impeachment is being read now.

A break before the vote

4 p.m. ET Feb. 5, 2020: The Senate is in recess for a short period.

Schumer ends and McConnell begins

3:49 p.m. ET Feb. 5, 2020: Schumer ends his comments, saying "These are the excuses of a child."

“The U.S. Senate was made for a moment like,” McConnell says. “We will reject this incoherent case that comes nowhere near justifying the first presidential removal in the country’s history.”

McConnell says the Democrats decided that “defeat means the whole system is broken.” He says within months after the election, Hillary Clinton and “a former U.S. president” decried the results of the election, calling it illegitimate.

“They still don’t accept the American voters’ decision,” McConnell said. “Heads, we win, tails, you cheated,” he said of Democrats’ reaction to losing the 2016 presidential election.

Schumer is speaking

3:38 p.m. ET Feb. 5, 2020: Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-New York, is speaking now. Schumer says, "I judge that Donald Trump is guilty of the first article of impeachment."

He repeats the sentence for the second article of impeachment.

He says we know that the trial never really happened, “and the American people know it, too.”

Here are Sen. Doug Jones’ remarks about his vote

What’s next in the trial

3:30 p.m. ET Feb. 5, 2020: As the trial comes to an end, here's what will happen: US Supreme Court Justice John Roberts will be brought into the Senate Chamber and the impeachment trial will reconvene.

The first article of Impeachment will be read, then the senators will be called in alphabetically order to announce their vote. They must stand and say either guilty or not guilty.

Romney is a first

3:15 p.m. ET Feb. 5, 2020: With Sen. Romney's decision, he becomes the first U.S. senator to vote against a president of his own party in an impeachment proceeding.

Live updates are beginning

3 p.m. ET Feb. 5, 2020: Welcome to live updates from the Senate vote on the impeachment of President Donald Trump. The vote is expected to begin in an hour.

Earlier updates:

2:07 p.m. ET Feb. 5, 2020: Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, a Republican, announces he will vote to convict and remove President Donald Trump.

11:27 a.m. ET Feb. 5, 2020: Alabama Sen. Doug Jones announces he will vote later Wednesday to convict and remove President Donald Trump.