BATON ROUGE – The Louisiana Republican Party has released a statement tonight (Feb. 9), saying it is “profoundly disappointed” by Senator Bill Cassidy’s vote affirming that the impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump is constitutional.

Sen. Cassidy is one of only six Senate Republicans to do so. Louisiana Senator John Kennedy voted that the trial is “unconstitutional” because Trump is no longer in office– an argument rejected by the full Senate.

Sen. Cassidy released a statement of his own tonight, defending his vote.

“We heard arguments from both sides,” says Cassidy in the statement.

“This vote is not a prejudgment on the final vote to convict. If anyone disagrees with my vote and would like an explanation,” says Cassidy, “I ask them to listen to the arguments presented by the House Managers and former President Trump’s lawyers. The House managers had much stronger constitutional arguments. The president’s team did not.”

Here is the LAGOP statement:

The Republican Party of Louisiana is profoundly disappointed by Senator Bill Cassidy’s vote on the constitutionality of the impeachment trial now underway against former President, now private citizen, Donald J. Trump. We feel that an impeachment trial of a private citizen is not only an unconstitutional act, but also an attack on the very foundation of American democracy, which will have far reaching and unforeseen consequences for our republic.

We also remind all Americans that former President Trump is innocent of the politically motivated, bogus charges now pending against him in a kangaroo court presided over by an openly hostile political opponent. How far justice has fallen in the short time that Democrats have been in control of the federal government!

We salute Senator John Kennedy for remaining steadfast in his opposition to the fake impeachment trial now underway in Washington, DC. Senator Kennedy has clearly made the right decision once again.