Watching the Impeachment trial of President Donald J. Trump over the past two weeks has been a depressing experience. The trial essentially ended on January 31 when 51 Republican senators voted to not see any further witnesses or documents. This decision has huge implications for America and is another step on the downward descent that the country has been on over the past three years.

The most obvious impact of this trial is that it is a deadly blow to America’s systems of government and justice. For years, America has taken justifiable pride in its system of checks and balances. Most trials in the U.S. have witnesses, a presentation of documents and cross-examination so that the case of the prosecution and defense can be challenged in a fair and balanced way.

For Impeachment trials of senior government officials, including the president, America has rules with respect to the process of submitting evidence and which evidence can be exempted through executive privilege. For the first time in the history of Senate Impeachment trials, there were no witnesses and no submission of documents relevant to the case. When a key witness, with evidence directly relevant to this case, volunteered to come before the senate, he, along with other testimony and witnesses were blocked. The president claimed blanket executive privilege on all White House witnesses and documents.

By voting 51 to 49 for no witnesses and documents, the senate effectively gave the president a free hand in performing other dubious acts of this nature and in impeding the process of conducting a fair trial. Yesterday a key check and balance was removed, and America’s democracy and system of justice regressed. The reasons for this action are obvious.