Ted Cruz Says 'Impeachment Process Is Over,' Trump Will Be Acquitted Wednesday: 'We've Had Enough'

Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz told Fox News Friday that the Senate's 51-49 vote against calling more witnesses in President Donald Trump's impeachment trial makes it clear the process is "over."

Speaking with Sean Hannity just hours after Friday's Senate vote, Cruz praised his former professor at Harvard Law School, Alan Dershowitz, for effectively arguing in Trump's defense that the evidence presented did not meet the constitutional standard for impeachment. Cruz said the House already called 18 witnesses and failed to prove their case, accusing Democrats of simply trying to drag out the trial. The senator argued that even if Trump did engage in a quid pro quo with Ukraine, "it doesn't matter" because the president has the authority to investigate corruption.

"The last 24 hours were pivotal, for all intents and purposes this impeachment process is over," Cruz said Friday night on Fox News.

"Four Republicans were right on the edge and today, holding 51 of the majority to say, 'We're done, we've had enough, this is over.' That means we're headed straight to Wednesday afternoon, a vote on the final judgment and the president is going to be acquitted of these charges as he should be," Cruz continued.

Hannity gushed over news of the Senate vote and told Cruz, "I applaud your colleagues," before asking why he has to "wait until Wednesday" for Trump to likely be acquitted.

Cruz appeared on Hannity's program two weeks prior to Friday's vote and preemptively declared that "Nancy Pelosi's impeachment circus is done."

The senator reiterated several times that impeachment requires a "grave, serious crime" that rises to the level of treason or other high crimes -- which he said the House didn't even attempt to prove. He said the House used accusations of a quid pro quo over military aid as a "side diversion," and that the charge "didn't matter" under the law anyway.

"Even if there were a quid pro quo, you've got disputed testimony on that. It doesn't matter because the president has the authority to investigate corruption, and there was more than sufficient evidence of potential corruption with Burisma and the Bidens for the president to ask for an investigation," Cruz said, referencing Hunter and Joe Biden.

"The vote we had today not to extend the trial not to have more additional witnesses, we already had 18 witnesses testify in the House. We've seen thousands of pages of documents that the House managers, and the president's defense lawyers have focused on, and throughout all of it, the House managers never proved their case," Cruz continued, saying Democrats were on a "fishing expedition" to find anyone who did wrongdoing in the Trump administration.

"This is not just a vote on whether you like the president or not, or whether you agree with the president or not, or whether your politics are the same," Cruz said. "This is a vote on whether the constitutional standard is met, and the Constitution says...that the only grounds for impeachment are treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors."

Hannity labeled House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler a "congenital liar," before again congratulating the Texas GOP senator for streamlining Trump's trial toward acquittal.

"Senator you did great work, you educated the public. Thank you for your duty, basically -- some people need to learn what is in the Constitution," Hannity concluded.