Kinzinger says he is ‘in total peace’ after impeachment vote

Rep. Adam Kinzinger (Ill.), one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach President Trump on Wednesday, said in his first post-vote interview that he was “in total peace” with the decision.

“Do I worry about my political future? Not really, because honestly, I never got into this to build some political empire,” Kinzinger told NBC’s Savannah Guthrie. “I did it to do the right thing and I am in total peace today that my vote was the right thing, and I actually think history will judge it that way.”

Guthrie went on to ask Kinzinger if he believed the single article of impeachment will attract any Republican support in the Senate trial. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has said he will not reconvene the chamber for a trial before Trump leaves office, but a New York Times report earlier this week claimed McConnell believes Trump has committed impeachable offenses and is pleased with the impeachment effort.

Kinzinger said he believed Senate Republicans were more receptive to voting to remove the president after the deadly riot in the U.S. Capitol.

“I hope the Senate does the right thing. I think they will,” he said. “All I know is I’m responsible for my vote. I feel at peace with my vote, but it was definitely a very weighty and heavy day in America.”

No Republican senators have publicly said they will vote to convict Trump as of Wednesday, but Sens. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) have both called for his resignation.

House Republicans who joined Kinzinger in voting for impeachment were: Reps. Liz Cheney (Wyo.), Peter Meijer (Mich.), Fred Upton (Mich.), John Katko (N.Y.), Jaime Herrera Beutler (Wash.), Dan Newhouse (Wash.), Tom Rice (S.C.), Anthony Gonzalez (Ohio) and David Valadao (Calif.).