Mitt Romney Says He ‘Agonized’ over Impeachment: ‘I Hoped Beyond Hope’ I Wouldn’t Find Him Guilty

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT), who voted to convict President Trump for abuse of power last week, claimed on Sunday that he “agonized” over the responsibility that came with his decision and said he had “hoped beyond hope” he would not find President Trump guilty.

Speaking to KSL’s Sunday Edition during the weekend, Romney, who asserted last week that the president “committed an act so extreme and egregious that it rises to the level of a high crime and misdemeanor,” said he “agonized over the responsibility that ultimately would come [his] way” and proclaimed that he “hoped beyond hope” he would not find Trump guilty.

“Well, I took my responsibility exactly as the Constitution defines it and as the oath I took requires it,” Romney told KSL’s Doug Wright, again citing his oath before God, “which is what I was sworn before God to apply impartial justice as a Senate juror.”

The Utah senator continued to defend his decision, proclaiming that he “thoroughly studied” the evidence, which moved him to vote to convict the president.

Trump admin invokes 30-year dormant terror court as it seeks to deport Afghan woman tied to Election Day plot

Army conducts first overseas test of ‘Hammer of the Gods’ weapon-disrupting system

Grandmother’s missed pickup leads to grim discovery in church parking lot

Clinton, Obama-era Democratic heavyweights Penn and Emanuel rip NYC’s Mamdani over taxes, Israel, blast DSA

Revealed: The DNC Lost Almost $30k to Email Scammer – No Word Yet if the Employee Was DEI or the Scammer Was a Deposed Nigerian Prince

Breaking: US Launches Airstrikes in Iran, Saudi Arabia Joins in as Iran Is Pushed to ‘Tipping Point’

DOJ suffers setback in New Jersey voter roll lawsuit despite illegal registrants scandal

Watch: Sen. Josh Hawley Illustrates the Absurdity of Fauci’s Hearing Stunt with 3 Questions

Trump AG pick Blanche stalled as key Republicans refuse to budge

Trump Going to SCOTUS to Have Punitive $83 Million E. Jean Carroll Decision Reversed

Perverse History Surfaces in Murder-Suicide Deaths of Seemingly Storybook Family of 8 Who Burned in Own Home

Ted Cruz demands Fauci face jail time, labels him America’s ‘most damaging bureaucrat’

Watch: Bodycam Footage of Tony Romo’s Arrest and Sobriety Test Raises Questions

El-Sayed in the hot seat for another foreign rental property, nearly $300K in additional income

Trump taps veterans to fix illegal alien trucking problem plaguing US roadways

“I agonized over the responsibility that ultimately would come my way,” Romney said. “I hoped beyond hope that I would not have to find him guilty of what had been alleged.”

“They didn’t want to provide any information for those of us who were having a responsibility to provide impartial justice,” Romney said of the refusal to allow additional witnesses to testify.

He also attributed his decision to “family tradition,” citing his dad, whom he described as “a person who stood by his word and did exactly what he thought was right regardless of the consequence.”

“And that is a family tradition which I hold dear,” he said.

“I did believe that I was doing exactly what I swore I would do,” he added.

Romney’s decision to convict the president earned him high praise from high-profile Democrats, including Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), who praised her colleague’s “courage” during Friday’s Democrat debate in New Hampshire.

“There was a lot of courage you saw from very few people,” Klobuchar said. “There was courage from Doug Jones, our friends from Alabama that took that tough vote. There was courage from Mitt Romney, who took a very, very difficult vote”:

Amy Klobuchar knocks idea of being a "cool newcomer": "We have a newcomer in the White House, and look where it got us. I think having some experience is a good thing." https://t.co/Rhy9aOaDTU #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/cqusxWYJfl

— ABC News (@ABC) February 8, 2020