BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — After the Senate voted to acquit President Donald Trump on both impeachment charges Wednesday afternoon, lawmakers and leaders across the Commonwealth largely decried the outcome.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren chastised her Republican colleagues in a series of tweets.
"Donald Trump pressured a foreign government to interfere in our election," she wrote. "He undermined our diplomatic relationships and put our national security at risk. He exploits our government for his personal gain—and Republicans just voted to protect him."
Sen. Ed Markey called Wednesday "a dark day for American democracy."
Shortly before the vote, he tweeted, "Donald Trump is blatantly corrupt and unfit to hold office. If Republican senators won’t vote to remove him tonight, the American people will do it at the ballot box in November."
Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley said the Senate Republicans failed democracy by refusing to hold a fair trial.
"The American people have been clear all along," she wrote. "A fair trial has witnesses and documents, following the facts in pursuit of the truth."
Rep. Joe Kennedy issued a statement on what he called the "sham acquittal" shortly after the vote.
"Senate and House Republicans decided that this President and all presidents who will follow him are above our nation's laws," Kennedy's statement read. "Though this is a dark day for our democracy, it is not a day to mourn its demise. Because the most powerful individual in this democracy isn’t a member of Congress or even a President, it’s the citizen."
On his personal Twitter account, Kennedy wrote simply, "The Senate abdicated its duty. We won’t. Vote."
Rep. Seth Moulton wrote in a statement, "History will always remember that this Republican Senate failed to do its duty."
Rep. Lori Trahan said it was a "solemn day" for the country.
Rep. Jim McGovern said the Senate "has set America on a course away from the rule of law, and towards the crooked authoritarianism we have opposed for two and a half centuries, but which Donald Trump embraces with open arms."
New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen said in a statement she never imagined she would have to participate in a sitting president's impeachment trial.
"I am deeply concerned by the refusal of my Senate colleagues to hear additional testimony and subpoena relevant documents in the Senate trial," her statement read. "This was the first impeachment trial of a President in the Senate’s history that did not call witnesses. In no way can these proceedings be understood as a fair trial."
Follow WBZ NewsRadio: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | iHeartmedia App
(Photo: Getty Images)