WASHINGTON (AP) — When Sen. Richard Burr stood and said "guilty" there were hushed gasps in the Senate chamber. But the North Carolina Republican's vote to convict former President Donald Trump should not have come as a shock.

In a way, he had been telegraphing his willingness to hold Trump accountable for several years.

Months before Trump would begin falsely claiming that the November election had been stolen from him, the Senate Intelligence Committee led by Burr warned that sitting public officials should use the "absolute greatest amount of restraint and caution if they are considering pu...