Washington: Republican Senator Mitt Romney, breaking with his party, said on Wednesday he would vote to convict US President Donald Trump of the impeachment charge of abusing his power, accusing the president of an “abusive and destructive violation” of his oath of office. Here are four reasons why, in his own words, Romney decided on the vote:

1. “As a senator-juror, I swore an oath before God to exercise impartial justice. My faith is at the heart of who I am... I knew from the outset that being tasked with judging the president would be the most difficult decision I have ever faced. I was not wrong.”

2. “The great question the Constitution asks senators to answer is whether the president committed an act so extreme and egregious that it rises to the level of a high crime and misdemeanour. Yes, he did.”

3. “Corrupting an election to keep one’s self in office is perhaps the most abusive and destructive violation of one’s oath of office that I can imagine. The president is guilty of an appalling abuse of public trust. What he did was not perfect. No, it was a flagrant assault on our electoral rights, our national security and our fundamental values.”

4. “My vote will likely be in the minority in the Senate. But irrespective of these things, with my vote I will tell my children and their children that I did my duty to the best of my ability, believing that my country expected it of me.”