The Midvale City Council passed a resolution commending Sen. Mitt Romney for his vote to convict in the impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump.
The resolution was intended to show support for Romney after the harrowing events at the U.S. Capitol and his voting against party lines.
On Jan. 6, thousands of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol building as Congress counted and certified the Electoral College vote.
“When I saw the video of Senator Romney being whisked away by Capitol security moments before the area was breached by insurrectionists, I realized how much easier it would have been for him to fall in line with his party and vote to acquit former President Trump,” Dustin Gettel, Midvale City Council member, said.
Romney was one of seven Republican senators to vote to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial, despite political fallout in Utah. While the Utah Republican Party issued a statement in support of Romney and Sen. Mike Lee, who voted to acquit Trump, some Utah Republicans called for Romney to be censured for his vote.
“We often complain that our elected officials just vote the party line and rarely show actual courage and conviction in the votes that they take while in office,” Gettel said. According to Gettel, Romney’s actions would likely be viewed favorably from a historical perspective.
The resolution commended Romney for “his courage and leadership as Utah’s junior senator during an extremely volatile political atmosphere where his personal safety was compromised and without regard to his own political advancement or allegiances.”
When Romney was confronted with a violent mob that wanted to do harm to him and other members of Congress, he did what he thought was best for Utah and for the country, Gettel said.
Gettel joined council members Bryant Brown and Heidi Robinson in voting for the resolution, allowing it to pass.
Council members Quinn Sperry and Paul Glover voted no and suggested that the resolution was a politically divisive topic that had no direct impact on Midvale City.
Brown said the effort wasn’t meant to be partisan.
“By definition, this resolution is a bipartisan effort,” Brown said. “In the history of the United States, this was the most bipartisan vote to convict a president. You can discuss the reasons why you didn’t like Romney’s impeachment vote, but criticizing him or this resolution for being too partisan is factually incorrect.”
The resolution stated that Romney filled his oath to “do impartial justice according to the Constitution and laws” as an Impeachment juror and has faithfully “support[ed] and defend[ed] the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.”
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