Senator Feinstein Disputes LA Times Claim That She is Considering an Acquittal Vote

UPDATE: 8:09 PM, It’s hard to tell when, but it looks like the LA Times added this paragraph since Dianne Feinstein debunked or denied their headline. The article does not show a revision or update time but states at one point:

After those remarks were published, Feinstein issued a statement saying she had been misunderstood.

“Before the trial I said I’d keep an open mind. Now that both sides made their cases, it’s clear the president’s actions were wrong. He withheld vital foreign assistance for personal political gain. That can’t be allowed to stand.”

See our original story below:

Today wraps up the third day in the US Senate Republican Legal Team Defense speeches for President Trump. Alan Dershowitz, Patrick Philbin, Jay Sekulow, Pat Cippilone, Pam Bondi and others made passionate cases for many hours defending their legal arguments as to why the Democrats, in their professional opinions, do not have a case to impeach and remove the current sitting President of the United States.

Much speculation has been brewing over whether the Democrats in the US Senate will be able to call witnesses. Additionally, many in the media are guessing which wild cards in either party might buck the party lines and vote the other way.

The LA Times just broke a story a few hours ago hinting that US Senator Dianne Feinstein might just vote to acquit President Trump. Feinstein took to Twitter to debunk their claim even more recently. Additionally, she retweeted Alayna Treene of Axios, who said she was the original reporter who posted anything that might have lent any credibility in the past to the LA Times lede, but that the chance has come and gone.

Feinstein tweeted: “The LA Times misunderstood what I said today. Before the trial I said I’d keep an open mind. Now that both sides made their cases, it’s clear the president’s actions were wrong. He withheld vital foreign assistance for personal gain. That can’t be allowed to stand.” See tweet below:

The LA Times misunderstood what I said today. Before the trial I said I’d keep an open mind. Now that both sides made their cases, it’s clear the president’s actions were wrong. He withheld vital foreign assistance for personal political gain. That can’t be allowed to stand.

— Senator Dianne Feinstein (@SenFeinstein) January 28, 2020

The LA Times originally reported in part, although their article may at some point be revised or updated:

Just after President Trump’s defense lawyers ended arguments in their Senate trial Tuesday, Sen. Dianne Feinstein suggested she could vote to acquit him, despite serious concerns about his character.

“Nine months left to go, the people should judge. We are a republic, we are based on the will of the people — the people should judge,” Feinstein said Tuesday, after the president’s team finished a three-day presentation in his defense. “That was my view and it still is my view.”

Still, she indicated that arguments in the trial about Trump’s character and fitness for office had left her undecided. “What changed my opinion as this went on,” she said, is a realization that “impeachment isn’t about one offense. It’s really about the character and ability and physical and mental fitness of the individual to serve the people, not themselves.”

Asked whether she would ultimately vote to acquit, she demurred, saying, “We’re not finished.”

The tweet that Feinstein retweeted in addition to her smackdown of the LA Times story read:

“I think the @latimes has this story backwards. I was the reporter who asked @SenFeinstein these questions. She told me she was initially going to vote against impeachment “before this”

But when I asked her to clarify, she said she’s changed her opinion” [sic] See the tweet below:

I think the @latimes has this story backwards. I was the reporter who asked @SenFeinstein these questions. She told me she was initially going to vote against impeachment “before this”

But when I asked her to clarify, she said she’s changed her opinion https://t.co/sJeYl2VkNl

— Alayna Treene (@alaynatreene) January 28, 2020

Benny Johnson of Turning Point USA also mistakenly reposted the story as “BREAKING” without checking to see that the story was debunked by Feinstein herself, and as of this writing, neither the LA Times or Benny Johnson have updated their feed or article to reflect Feinstein’s denial of even a remote possibility that she may vote in favor of President Trump. It’s possible that that could change after this is published. See tweet below:

?BREAKING?

Sen. Dianne Feinstein became the first Democrat to suggest that she could vote to acquit President Trump

https://t.co/IAtih89SkV

— Benny (@bennyjohnson) January 28, 2020