Susan Collins says Trump 'has learned' from impeachment case

Susan Collins.
(Image credit: Screenshot/Twitter/CBS Evening News)

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) won't vote to convict President Trump on either article of impeachment, but she still thinks he's learned his lesson.

In an interview with CBS' Norah O'Donnell on Tuesday — the same day she announced she'll vote to acquit Trump — Collins said she believes "the president has learned his lesson" and will be "much more cautious" in his dealings with foreign powers going forward.

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Collins' comments echoed those of some of her Republican colleagues who also expressed displeasure with Trump's Ukraine-related behavior, but ultimately decided his actions did not meet the bar for removal. Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), for example, both said they believe Trump will think twice about making a similar judgment in the future.

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Trump's stauncher allies, on the other hand, don't think he should stop doing things his own way. Collins told O'Donnell the president shouldn't have brought former Vice President Joe Biden in his infamous July phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, but Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani said he hopes the president keeps pursuing his political rival, NPR reports.

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Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.