WASHINGTON (AP) — Seven Republican senators voted to convict Donald Trump at his impeachment trial, but it was North Carolina’s Richard Burr who was the most unexpected “guilty” vote. There were gasps in the Senate chamber last Saturday as Burr stood up and declared his position. But in looking back at Burr’s career, that vote didn’t necessarily come as a shock. Burr began Trump’s presidency by defending him. But Burr gradually became a quiet check on Trump’s powers as the Senate’s Russia investigation wore on. He distanced himself from Trump, pushed back on Trump’s election rhetoric and, as chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, worked to protect the intelligence agencies from Trump’s interference.
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FILE - In this Jan. 9, 2020, file photo President Donald Trump listens as Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt delivers remarks on proposed changes to the National Environmental Policy Act, at the White House in Washington. In Trump's presidency, fact checking became a cottage industry unto itself. And “alternative facts" became a buzzphrase, coined by one of his admiring aides. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci, File)
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