U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell called Donald Trump "practically and morally responsible" for his supporters' deadly attack on the Capitol, only moments after voting to acquit the Republican former president on an impeachment charge of inciting the melee.

The top Senate Republican explained the unexpected turnabout at the end of a five-day impeachment trial, by declaring it unconstitutional to convict Trump of misconduct now that the former president has left office and become a private citizen.

"Senator Mitch McConnell just went to the floor essentially to say that we made our case on the facts," said Representative Jamie Raskin, who had led the nine House Democrats who prosecuted Trump before the Senate.

McConnell was not the only Republican to castigate Trump for his behavior after voting for acquittal.

"The question I must answer is not whether President Trump said and did things that were reckless and encouraged the mob. I believe that happened," Senator Rob Portman in a statement.

"My decision was based on my reading of the Constitution," the Ohio Republican added. "I believe the Framers understood that convicting a former president and disqualifying him or her from running again pulls people further apart."

Senator Chuck Grassley, the Senate's most senior Republican, described Trump's language in a fiery speech to supporters just before the Capitol assault as "extreme, aggressive and irresponsible."

But he said the Senate had no jurisdiction to hold a trial, agreed with Trump's legal team that the former president deserved more "due process" and said the prosecution had not made their case.

US Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, normally a savvy political operator, managed to infuriate Republicans and Democrats of all stripes by both acquitting and excoriating former president Donald Trump over the Capitol riot.

"Impeachment was never meant to be the final forum for American justice," said McConnell, who voted against conviction because he didn't believe the Senate had the constitutional jurisdiction to convict a president who had already left office. McConnell added, "He didn't get away with anything yet. We have a criminal justice system in this country. We have civil litigation. And former presidents are not immune from being held accountable by either one."

If McConnell was trying to thread a political needle through warring factions, he apparently missed the mark as both sides bashed him for "trying to have it both ways." Democrats said it was absurd for McConnell to vote against conviction on a "technicality" when it was the senator himself, then majority leader, who allegedly blocked the impeachment trial from behind held before Trump left office.

McConnell also failed to win any friends in his own party. "If only McConnell was so righteous as the Democrats trampled Trump and the Republicans while pushing Russia collusion bulls**t for three years or while Dems incited 10 months of violence, arson and rioting," Donald Trump Jr. said.

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Speaking shortly after his client's acquittal in the second impeachment trial on Saturday, van der Veen appeared to be almost holding back tears, responding to reports that his Philadelphia-area home was targeted by vandals.

Noting that he would not like to go into detail on the subject, a visibly distraught van der Veen told FoxNews host Griff Jenkins that his home was indeed "attacked."

"To answer your question, my entire family, my business, my law firm are under siege right now. I don't really want to go into that," he said.

Talking to the pool reporters, the Philadelphia-based attorney said that vandals broke windows in his home, and spray-painted "really bad words" everywhere. Philadelphia police confirmed that unknown perpetrators daubed "traitor" at the end of the driveway at his home in Chester County. Police said the home is now being watched by private security, and that they have been "showing a presence" to discourage further attacks.

The attorney, who said that he "was not politically minded," and argued that him partaking in the Trump impeachment trial was merely part of his job as a lawyer, said that he has been bombarded by death threats."I've had nearly 100 death threats," he claimed.

Also on Friday, a group of protesters flocked to his law office in downtown Philadelphia. The crowd chanted "When van der Veen lies, what do you do? Convict. Convict," according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

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The petition, which asks the British government to commit not to impose the so-called immunity passports on the general public, crossed the threshold on Sunday. Public support grew from 10,000 over 20 days ago and surged since last week, when the petition had almost 37,000 signatures.

Several similarly-themed petitions in the past attracted hundreds of thousands of supporters, indicating an enduring frustration that sections of British society have about the idea. Their concern is that vaccination status may affect not only their ability to travel to other countries -by all accounts a highly likely scenario- but also their access to social life at home. Only people certified as immune to Covid-19 would be able to go to pubs, football arenas and other public venues, they fear.

There is, however, plenty of evidence to feed the skeptics' concerns. Some preparatory work for a "Covid-19 Certification/Passport" electronic system has been ordered by the government and discovered in public-contract records.

There is also vocal support for international vaccination passports coming from public figures like former prime minister Tony Blair and some media outlets. Opponents perceive it as laying the groundwork for pushing the domestic versions of such a document.

Meanwhile other nations, such as Denmark, have said they intend to introduce digital Covid-19 passports as part of reopening their economies. Concerned Britons expect their government to come under pressure from across the Channel to follow the example.