WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito will vote to acquit President Donald Trump on the two counts of impeachment.
“And you will vote to acquit?” Capito was asked by MetroNews “Talkline” Host Hoppy Kercheval Friday.
“Oh yes. Oh yes,” Capito said.
.@SenCapito talks with @HoppyKercheval about the voting for witnesses in the impeachment trials. WATCH: https://t.co/wkudfIRZCB pic.twitter.com/MwunfsQJrf
— MetroNews (@WVMetroNews) January 31, 2020
Capito said she learned several things during the last week plus of arguments, questions and answers, especially about the historical significance of impeachment. She said in the end, Trump’s phone call with the leader of Ukraine didn’t rise to the level of impeachment and removal from office.
Capito voted against hearing additional witness Friday evening while U.S. Senator Joe Manchin voted for it. The final was 41-59 against hearing from anyone else.
Capito said the House’s case included 17 witnesses. She said it was up to House managers to bring more witnesses if they thought that was necessary.
Capito said future impeachment proceedings hinge on the Senate’s vote.
“If we say, ‘Okay House you can bring a flimsy case that has as lot of holes in it, incomplete, rushed to the Senate for us to become the investigator,’ that changes the whole process going forward,” Capito said.
Capito said whatever former national security adviser John Bolton has to say has already been said.
“It’s been said through other witnesses and I think the House had the opportunity to call John Bolton. They wouldn’t go through the legal procedures of calling John Bolton,” Capito said.
Capito said in the end she has to come home and explain her vote.
“They’re asking us to remove a president, to take him off the ballot, to nullify an election that West Virginians wholeheartedly supported. It just stuns me sometimes that that is the final result they are asking for on the grounds that they presented. There’s just no way I can vote for that,” Capito said.
WATCH: Here’s how I’m voting in @realDonaldTrump‘s #impeachment trial today and why: pic.twitter.com/VV9gHRtKqU
— Shelley Moore Capito (@SenCapito) January 31, 2020
As of early Friday afternoon, U.S. Senator Joe Manchin hadn’t yet said how he would vote on removal.
More than 60 officeholders from across the state signed a letter and sent it to Manchin Friday calling on him to vote against removal.
“West Virginians and Americans all over the country will soon pass judgment on President Trump’s first term during the 2020 general election. That is how we decide our elections in this country,” the letter said.