WASHINGTON — Senator Mitt Romney of Utah announced on Wednesday that he would vote to convict President Trump of abuse of power, making him the first Republican to support removing Mr. Trump for his bid to pressure Ukraine to investigate his political rivals.
“I think the case was made,” Mr. Romney said in an interview in his Senate office on Wednesday morning, ahead of an afternoon floor speech in which he grew emotional as he explained his decision. He declared Mr. Trump “guilty of an appalling abuse of public trust.”
Mr. Romney said he would vote against the second article of impeachment, obstruction of Congress, arguing that House Democrats had failed to exhaust their legal options for securing testimony and other evidence they had sought. But the first-term senator said that Democrats had proved their first charge, that the president had misused his office for his own personal gain. » | Mark Leibovich | Wednesday, February 5, 2020
