Riigikogu Trump support group hails acquittal

TALLINN - The President Donald Trump support group in the Estonian parliament on Monday welcomed the acquittal of Trump by the Senate, which put an end to the impeachment process. 

"President Trump made an extremely valid point when he said that recently we bore witness to  yet another phase of the greatest witch hunt in the history of the United States," said the chairman of the support group, opposition Estonian Conservative People's Party (EKRE) MP Peeter Ernits.

"He said that, unfortunately, it has to be acknowledged at the preset moment that in the United States one political party has been given free hands to discredit the rule of law, slander the law enforcement, approve of rioting, excuse rioters and turn the legal system into a tool of political revenge. In addition, to persecute, blacklist, destroy and derogate everyone, and the positions of such people, with whom and which they do not agree," Ernits said.

"Many things, including an attempt to turn the regal system into a tool of political revenge, we can unfortunately witness also in present-day Estonia. The problems highlighted by President Trump are the same here. The forceful implementation of the ideology of globalism continues, in the course of which capital is moving across borders unrestricted, thereby also restricting the possibilities of governments to control the actions of international corporations. The only way to mitigate the woes caused by globalism is to strengthen nation states," the MP said. 

As expected, the impeachment of Trump did not get the necessary majority of votes in the US Senate on Saturday. Altogether 34 votes were required for Trump's acquittal, and that number  was surpassed already in the early phase of the ballot.

In total 57 senators voted for impeachment and 43 were against.

The impeachment was supported by all Democrats and seven Republican senators. The support of at least 17 Republicans would have been needed for the motion to be carried.