Will Democrats join in acquitting Trump?

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Although the Senate vote about including witnesses in the Trump impeachment trial hasn't occurred yet (and that vote could be a close one), some Democrats are already open about possibly voting to acquit Donald Trump. According to Politico.com, three Democratic Senators are thinking about crossing party lines to vote to acquit President Trump.

Politico reports that "Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Doug Jones of Alabama are undecided on whether to vote to remove the president from office and are 'struggling' over where to land, said Manchin." The news suggests that the acquittal vote might not be a partisan one.

Right now, there are 53 Republicans in the Senate and 47 Senators that caucus with the Democrats. That 47 includes Maine Senator Angus King and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, who are registered independents.

According to Senate.Gov, " The Constitution requires a two-thirds vote of the Senate to convict, and the penalty for an impeached official upon conviction is removal from office."

With that in mind, Democrats would not only need the support of their full caucus but they would also need twenty Republicans to join with them to remove President Trump from office. The fact that some Democrats are on the fence about voting to convict the 45th President of the United States suggests that their caucus is already divided.

If the Senate does vote to include witnesses, the impeachment trial will likely continue but right now, it looks like some Democrats are already hesitant about convicting and removing the president.