What can we say, surprised? No.
Pissed and sorrowful? Yes:

BREAKING: Former President Donald Trump has been acquitted in his historic second impeachment trial https://t.co/G8AlFStayY pic.twitter.com/tiq8r5rSQf

— CNN (@CNN) February 13, 2021

Although T-Rump’s Senate trial was preordained going in, the evidence presented was irrefutable and created a way-slim hope something would pop to shift the likely outcome — the insidious cell phone call between T-Rump and Kevin McCarthy seemed to be that needed ‘pop,’ but not good enough for the chunk of GOPers.
The vote was way-close, however, 57-43 in favor of conviction, short of the two-thirds majority needed.
Details per The Washington Post:

Senate Republicans voted against convicting Donald Trump Saturday for inciting his supporters to storm the Capitol Jan. 6, bringing a swift end to the former president’s second impeachment trial after Democrats abandoned plans to call witnesses in the face of GOP opposition.
…
The decision in the end to forego witnesses set the stage for Trump’s acquittal without a full accounting of the former president’s actions as the riots unfolded, endangering the lives of lawmakers and former vice president Mike Pence.
The result underscored Trump’s continued grip on most Republicans despite the party losing control of both the White House and Congress during his tumultuous tenure.

Seven Republicans did vote with all the Democrats — the usual pack, Richard Burr, Bill Cassidy, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Mitt Romney, Ben Sasse and Pat Toomey — and the rest cowered back and backed the orange turd total-tilt for a crime against our country. The Republican Party is a contradictory sink hole.
A glaring, obvious example is from the face-hole of MoscowMitch — per the Guardian‘s live blog after the acquittal vote:

The Republican leader said Trump committed a “disgraceful dereliction of duty” by refusing to intervene as his supporters carried out a violent insurrection at the Capitol.

“There’s no question, none, that President Trump is practically, and morally, responsible for provoking the events of the day,” McConnell said.

McConnell emphasized that the insurrectionists turned violent because Trump had told them a series of lies about the presidential election.

“They did this because they’d been fed wild falsehoods by the most powerful man on Earth because he was angry he lost an election,” McConnell said.
“This was an intensifying crescendo of conspiracy theories.”

The Republican leader then pivoted to making a jurisdictional argument against conviction, saying the Senate is not meant to act as a “moral tribunal.”

Later, he blubbered this:

“President Trump is still liable for everything he did while he’s in office,” McConnell said. “He didn’t get away with anything yet.”

The Republican leader noted that the US has both a criminal justice system and a civil litigation system, and he said former presidents are “not immune from being accountable by either one”.

Of course, a potential criminal investigation would not have prevented the Senate from voting to convict Trump and block him from seeking federal office again.

What’s next? One item is clear — Trump skates. He’s done it his entire life. How he does it is beyond my mental capabilities, and he’s skated since a kid, starting with his daddy, later with bankers and lawyers, and now with spineless, power-crazed politicans backed by a horde of delusional, dangerous MAGA hatters.
A most-likedly and scary scenario via Digby on T-Rump’s immediate future — a “campaign revenge tour” using his beloved rallies:

A source identified as “one of the Republicans who remains tight with Trump” told Business Insider that they speculate the former president “wants to get out a roulette wheel with all their faces on it,” referring to GOP lawmakers who voted in support of Trump’s removal from office.
According to Trump insiders, his vindictive road trip is expected to target the ten House Republicans who voted for his impeachment last month; he has also been keeping a watchful eye on any GOP senators who break with him.

I really don’t see T-Rump getting entangled in any legal problems, despite whiffs of investigational-shit in New York, Georgia, and elsewhere, he skates. Horrible as it seems…