Louisiana GOP issues stinging rebuke of Sen. Bill Cassidy after he votes for constitutionality of trial against Trump

The Louisiana state Republican Party issued a stinging rebuke of one of their U.S. senators after he voted in favor of the constitutionality of the impeachment trial against former President Donald Trump.

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) said that the House managers arguing for the constitutionality of the trial persuaded him to vote in favor of the resolution and the lawyers defending Trump did a poor job.

"It was disorganized, random. They talked about many things but they didn't talk about the issue at hand, and so, if I'm an impartial juror, and I'm trying to make a decision based upon the facts as presented on this issue, then the House managers did a much better job," Cassidy said to reporters.

The motion passed 56-44 with six Republicans, including Cassidy, voting with the Democrats.

"The issue at hand is, is it constitutional to impeach a president who has left office, and the House managers made a compelling, cogent case and the president's team did not," Cassidy explained.

He went on to say that he was approaching the trial as an impartial juror when asked if he was open to convicting Trump.

The Republican Party of Louisiana immediately issued a statement rebuking Cassidy for his vote.

"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," the statement read.

"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!" the statement concluded.

One Trump lawyer said he remained confident that they would win regardless of Cassidy's unexpected vote.

"We had a good day," Bruce Castor said.

When asked about Cassidy's vote, he responded, "I don't think anything of it. If it leaks down to 34 then I'll start to worry."

The former president is not likely to be convicted by the Senate given that Republicans control 50 seats and two-thirds (or 67 members) of the Senate needs to vote in favor of conviction in order for it to pass the constitutional threshold.

When Cassidy was asked what was so bad about the attorneys' argument, he responded, "Did you listen to it? It speaks for itself."

Here's the statement from Cassidy to the media:

'Disorganized': GOP senator rips Trump's defense teamwww.youtube.com