Senator Kevin Cramer, one of the senators whose statements objecting to the trial on jurisdictional grounds was cited by the appeals court, has endorsed Trump for reelection; however, despite not having read the decision on Tuesday, he echoed some of the arguments made by the judges. “Impeachments don’t prove anything,” Cramer told me on Tuesday. Although he believes the prosecution of Trump is a “weaponization” of the judicial branch of government, he continued that he did not believe it “absolves” Trump in the legal system.
“That’s not the issue that protects him or doesn’t protect him from future prosecution,” Cramer said.
Senator Thom Tillis, another Republican whose decision not to convict Trump was referenced in the decision, said that the appeals court decision was “not surprising to me.” “Quite honestly, I don’t think it should be surprising to President Trump or his attorneys. And I don’t criticize them for going to the mat, that’s a part of the legal process,” Tillis said.