MOSCOW, February 14. /TASS/. It was quite predictable that the attempt to impeach Donald Trump, who already vacated the presidential office, would ultimately fail but US society is still split, Chairman of the Russian State Duma (lower house of parliament) Committee for Foreign Affairs Leonid Slutsky said on Sunday.

"The failure of the second attempt to impeach Trump was quite predictable," Slutsky told journalists. "This unprecedented procedure was rooted in inter-party disputes and Democrat’s unaccomplished vendetta" for the defeat of their presidential candidate Hillary Clinton back in 2016 and "the riots at the Capitol Hill they were seeking to blame on the ex-president."

"But it also demonstrates that the split in American society and political establishment is still in place. However, naturally, these are the United States’ domestic affairs," Slutsky noted.

US Senate voted 57-43 to impeach Trump on Saturday. However, Trump was acquitted, because no less than 67 votes were required to convict him.

The US House of Representatives controlled by Democrats approved on January 13 a text of resolution on impeaching Trump, charging him with "incitement of insurrection." The resolution said Trump had "demonstrated that he will remain a threat to national security, democracy, and the Constitution if allowed to remain office." Democrats initiated Trump's first impeachment trial in 2019 but that attempt failed.

The new impeachment drive was initiated over Trump’s remarks on January 6 when his supporters stormed the Capitol Building in Washington DC to stop lawmakers from officially certifying the results of the November presidential election. This was a last-ditch attempt to prevent Democrat Joe Biden from becoming the new president.

The situation was unprecedented since for the first time in the country’s history a president (who has already left the post) was subject to the impeachment procedure twice.