U.S. Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md. 1st, voted against both articles of impeachment that were approved Wednesday against President Trump.

“Today was a sad day for our republic and for our Constitution,” Harris said in a statement late Wednesday.

“Congress passed the articles of impeachment on a purely partisan vote by Democrats -- with no support from any Republicans and, in fact, opposition from some fair-minded Democrats.  This proves that this sham impeachment was a politically motivated attempt to remove President Trump from office despite the votes of 63 million Americans in the last election,” Harris said.

In being impeached, Trump becomes only the third American chief executive to be formally charged under the Constitution’s ultimate remedy for high crimes and misdemeanors.

The historic vote split along party lines, much the way it has divided the nation, over a charge that the 45th president abused the power of his office by enlisting a foreign government to investigate a political rival ahead of the 2020 election. The House then approved a second charge, that he obstructed Congress in its investigation.

The articles of impeachment, the political equivalent of an indictment, now go to the Senate for trial. If Trump is acquitted by the Republican-led chamber, as expected, he still would have to run for reelection carrying the enduring stain of impeachment on his purposely disruptive presidency.

“When the President was elected, radical liberals immediately objected to his election and referred to themselves as ‘the resistance.’ Then they claimed the President colluded with Russia – until the Mueller report definitively ended that charade,” Harris said.

“Now they claimed he abused power by rightfully trying to investigate potential corruption involving over a million dollars in payments made to Hunter Biden, and blatant attempts by the previous Ukrainian government to influence our 2016 election,” Harris said.

“Since Speaker Pelosi couldn’t even get all her House Democrats to vote for impeachment, much less any Republicans, it is clear that the Senate will, and should, vote against conviction,” Harris said.

“This means the entire impeachment hoax was a waste of time that distracted Congress from getting real work done for the American people – fighting the opioid crisis, lowering prescription drug costs, making health care more affordable, securing our borders, and keeping our booming economy going,” he said.

The trial is expected to begin in January in the Senate, where a vote of two-thirds is necessary for conviction. While Democrats had the majority in the House to impeach Trump, Republicans control the Senate and few if any are expected to diverge from plans to acquit the president ahead of early state election-year primary voting.