Senate’s failure to remove Trump will mark end of US democracy: Analyst

The US Senate’s failure to vote for the removal of President Donald Trump from office will mark the end of democratic process in the United States, an American political analyst says. 

The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives formally demanded the impeachment of Trump in December, accusing him of abusing his presidential powers as he tried to pressure Ukraine, and then obstruction of Congress by blocking the congressional probe of his actions.

On Friday, the Republican-controlled Senate blocked witness testimonies and new evidence in the impeachment trial of Trump, clearing the way for his acquittal.

The senators voted 51 to 49, almost across party lines, against the proposal. The vote stopped Democrats' drive to hear testimony from witnesses like former national security adviser John Bolton.

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Rodney Martin, a former congressional staffer based in Scottsdale, Arizona told Press TV on Friday that Congress' failure to remove Trump, who seeks a swift and smooth acquittal by Senate Republicans, marks the beginning of the end of the democratic process in US political history.

"Donald Trump’s reign and rule will probably be marked as the beginning of the end of the Democratic process in the United States," Martin noted.

He pointed out that Trump stamped the end of the US democratic process that had been in declination for years.

Trump's acquittal "is a great threat to the democratic process in the United States which has been greatly eroding for the last 20 years," Martin said.

Martin, who sees Trump's impeachment trial as a deflection of the truth, likened the Senate to a mafia and Trump to a kingpin.

"What the Republicans are doing … engaging in this street gang, mob-like conduct, and trying to deflect away from the fact of the case," he said, adding, ""In the end, Donald Trump will not be removed from office, because like a gang leader, or a mafia kingpin, he rules by sheer terror and fear over the Republican senators."

Two-thirds of the 100-member Senate is required to remove Trump from office. Republicans hold a slim majority, so it is unlikely that Trump will be convicted.

Meanwhile, US Congressman and Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee Jerrold Nadler warned lawmakers that Trump was against all democratic values, describing him as “a dictator [who] must be removed from office.”

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Many believe Trump abused his power as president by freezing Congress-approved military aid to Ukraine, linking it to an investigation of his Democratic presidential rival Joe Biden and his son Hunter, who worked for a Ukrainian energy firm while his father was vice president.

Senators final voting on Trump's acquittal or removal is scheduled on Wednesday.

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