Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) said Wednesday that he will vote to convict President Trump on two articles of impeachment. His comments came hours ahead of a Senate vote that's expected to fall short of the tally needed to remove Trump from office.
The Senate vote caps five months of inquiries and hearings that followed revelations that Trump threatened to withhold military aid to Ukraine until it launched an investigation into a political rival, Joe Biden.
"He solicited a bribe from a foreign leader to help his political campaign. He cheated, then he got caught and he tried to cover it up," Brown told reporters in a Wednesday afternoon teleconference. "By any measurement, that is an impeachable offense and he should be removed from office."
Brown also said he thinks Republican senators opposing impeachment fear Trump
"They fear Fox television turning on them, they fear talk radio going after them, they fear the president tweeting about them and giving them a nasty nickname," Brown said. "They fear the president even coming into their state and campaign against them."
On Tuesday, Brown's Republican colleague, Sen. Rob Portman, gave a speech on the Senate floor saying that Trump's actions were wrong but did not rise to the level of impeachment.
"There could be circumstances where a crime isn't necessary for an impeachment," Portman said. "Without a crime, it's even a higher bar for those who advocate for a conviction, and that higher bar is not met here."
The U.S. House last year passed two articles of impeachment against Trump: abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The Senate on Wednesday is expected to acquit Trump of the charges.
