The Maine moderate has been one of the few swing votes in the trial.
Last week, she joined Democrats in their failed push to hear from more witnesses, namely former national security adviser John Bolton. But earlier in January she voted with Senate Republican leaders on the framework for the trial. That victory for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) paved the way for an successful effort to turn the entire Senate GOP against witnesses, save for Collins and Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah).
After the witness motion was rebuffed, Collins said she concluded she had to vote to acquit Trump. Romney is now the only the Republican considering whether to convict the president of the two impeachment articles.
„I do not believe the House has met its burden of showing that the president’s conduct, however, flawed, warrants the extreme step of immediate removal from office,” Collins said of the abuse of power charge.
Collins is up for re-election this fall in a state that’s increasingly tilted toward Democrats and was in a no-win position. Though her decision to acquit will infuriate the state’s liberals, voting against Trump would have provoked a sizable backlash from the state’s conservatives.
The issue may end up as the primary wedge issue in her re-election race. Her likely opponent in the general election, Maine statehouse Speaker Sara Gideon, waited until after Collins’ announcement to say she would have voted to remove Trump from office.
Source: politico.com
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