What do the Republicans who voted to impeach Trump say about his conviction? The answer may surprise you

Some Republicans who previously risked their political careers to vote for Donald Trump’s impeachment say the conviction against him Thursday in New York was flawed.

In 2021, seven Republican Senators and ten Republicans in the House of Representatives voted to convict and impeach Trump for incitement of insurrection. Trump, in turn, unleashed hellfire on them during the 2022 primaries and there are only two left in the House of Representatives.

Only one in the Senate — Lisa Murkowski, Alaska — was up for re-election.

Here’s what they have to say about Trump being found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying company records for hush money payments to Stormy Daniels:

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., said, “Given the way the defense was conducted, the trial was conducted, the jury was instructed and the prosecutor’s desire to fulfill a campaign promise, the guilty verdict not surprising.’

He continued, “The jury was led to believe that two misdemeanors constitute a crime and that a state court could enforce federal law. None of this seems to be right. The rule of law must apply equally to both parties. I do not agree with the verdict.’

Cassidy has not been afraid to criticize Trump in the past. He has repeatedly called for him to drop out of the race, calling the race in March a “sorry state of affairs.”

In April, Trump immediately hit him back. “One of the worst senators in the United States Senate is hands down Bill Cassidy, A TOTAL FLAKE,” he wrote on Truth Social.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, one of the Senate’s most prominent moderates, emphasized that the matter was political.

“It is fundamental to our American justice system that the government prosecutes cases for alleged criminal conduct, regardless of who the suspect is. In this case the opposite happened. “The district attorney, who campaigned on the promise of prosecuting Donald Trump, filed these charges precisely because of who the defendant was and not because of any specific criminal conduct,” she said in a statement.

“The political underpinnings of this case further blur the lines between the legal system and the electoral system, and this ruling is likely to be the subject of a lengthy appeals process,” she warned.

Collins said she would not support Trump even if he is the Republican nominee.

The rest of the Republican Senate that voted to convict was largely silent.

Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, declined to comment. He has previously said it is “shameful” for lawmakers to appear in court to defend Trump, but that President Biden should have pardoned his political opponent.

A pair of senators who voted to impeach Trump said they disagreed with the verdict in Trump’s hush money case

“He would have had to fight like hell to stop this prosecution from going forward,” Romney said, referring to Biden. “It was a win-win for Donald Trump.”

‘I do. …You may not agree with this, but if I were President Biden, I would have immediately pardoned him when the Justice Department filed charges. I would have pardoned President Trump. Why? Well, because it makes me, President Biden, the big man and the person I pardoned, a little man.”

But he said of the series of lawmakers who traveled to the Manhattan courthouse to appear with Trump: “I think it’s a little bit humiliating to appear in front of a courthouse — and especially when we’re talking about an accusation of paying for porn . star. It’s really, really hard to watch… There’s a level of dignity and decorum that you expect from people who run for the highest position in the land and prostrate themselves in front of the public to try to curry favor . with the person who is our nominee is a bit embarrassing.”

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, could not be reached for comment. Sens. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., Ben Sasse, R-Neb., and Richard Burr, R-N.C., have since retired.

Rep. Peter Meijer, R-Mich., who narrowly lost his 2022 primary to Trump-backed John Gibbs, who went on to lose to a Democrat, expressed disappointment in the X ruling.

He retweeted a series of warnings: “This is wrong, it’s dangerous, and it will inevitably lead us into increasingly dark places where those of us who believe in clear, unbiased written law become increasingly isolated.”

“It will be wild when Trump appeals a conviction based on dubious legal theories all the way to the Supreme Court and you suddenly realize why the left has methodically laid so much groundwork in an attempt to label SCOTUS as corrupt,” read another retweet.

Former Rep. Justin Amash, the only Republican to vote to impeach Trump in 2019 over his phone call with Ukraine, wrote on X: “Put politics aside. Today’s verdict is an affront to the rule of law and a perversion of justice. Bragg has weaponized the legal system to indict Trump on charges that would never have been brought against anyone else. This selective and unlawful prosecution will further undermine confidence in our Constitution and divide America. It must not last.’

Amash did not run for re-election in 2020, but launched a brief run for Senate this year, which is now adjourned.

Former Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger, who led the Jan. 6 committee, praised the ruling in multiple posts on X. “Justice is fair and equal. Don’t break the law,” he said.

The jury of seven men and five women made their decision as the former president faced 34 charges of falsifying company records. His sentencing date is set for July 11.

It comes after five weeks of dramatic evidence and 22 witnesses questioned on the stand.

It is the first time that a former American president has faced a criminal trial.

The Trump team has vowed to appeal the conviction. He will now face the Appellate Division in Manhattan, and possibly the Court of Appeals, and will remain free on bail while he appeals.

The charges Trump faced each carried a maximum prison sentence of up to four years.

Jurors had the option of convicting Trump of all charges, acquitting him of all charges, or returning a mixed verdict finding him guilty of some charges and not others.

Falsifying company records would typically be a lower-level crime, but his charge was raised to the misdemeanor level because of a second offense: attempting to influence the 2016 election.

The judge could consider the unprecedented nature of the case and choose not to put a former president and current candidate behind bars.