Sen. Portman on why he voted to acquit Trump on impeachment charges

COLUMBUS (WCMH) — Ohio Sen. Rob Portman answered questions about his vote to acquit President Donald Trump on impeachment charges.

Portman voted for acquittal even though he has publically condemned the president’s actions, one of only a handful of Republican Senators to go on the record saying it was wrong to withhold aid from Ukraine while pressuring them to investigate the Bidens.

“For four months, I’ve been saying the same thing to Colleen and to others and what I’ve said consistently, is that having been involved in this Ukranian issue for the last several months,” Portman said.

Portman did not vote to convict the president.

“But I believe the transcript which was made public about four months ago was inappropriate because there was mention of doing an investigation of Joe Biden, who was a potential political rival and that is what I referred to back then,” he said.

Some Republicans, including Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, claim the president learned a lesson and won’t repeat his mistakes. But most GOP Senators say there were no mistakes, no lesson to learn.

NBC4’s Colleen Marshall asked Portman, “The president isn’t showing any contrition. He’s been emboldened by this. Do you think not only it was impartial, but you might have enabled the behavior to continue?”

“No, because there was a fulsome discussion about what happened, to the point where, honestly, I don’t think new witnesses would have added much light to it because we were able to get the information from the witnesses they had and the information that was gathered,” Portman answered.

Portman also said he does not believe Mitt Romney should face condemnation from other Republicans because Romney was the lone member of the party to vote to convict the president.

Portman insists even though he believes it was improper for Trump to put pressure on the Ukranian president to investigate a rival, it does not meet the high bar required for impeachment.

When asked about censuring the president to ensure this type of behavior doesn’t happen, Portman doesn’t see it as a necessity.

“Well, you know I’ve made my statement and I think it’s pretty clear,” he said. “And I’ve been consistent for four months on this, too, and more specific, more recently because more specific information came out and all the information is out there and I think he is listening, I really do. And I do think it will have an impact.”

Hear more from Portman this Sunday on The Spectrum at 10 a.m. on NBC4.