Democratic Senator Tim Kaine said on Saturday that the “most shocking revelation” of Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial so far involved Trump’s tweet attacking former Vice President Mike Pence during the January 6 Capitol riot.
“The most shocking revelation of the trial so far: Pence pulled out of the camera to protect his life at 2:13 pm. Trump sends a tweet to Pence destroying millions and then calls Tuberville while the Senate is under block. He asks Tuberville for help to delay stop – calling the election, “Kaine tweeted on Saturday.
The most shocking revelation of the trial so far: Pence pulled out of the chamber to protect his life at 2:13 pm. Trump tweets Pence to millions of people, then calls Tuberville while the Senate is blocked. He asks Tuberville for help in delaying – or stopping – the call for elections.
– Tim Kaine (@timkaine) February 13, 2021
Kaine’s statement refers to new questions that arose around Pence’s security on the day of the violent uprising, and how much Trump knew about the attack.
During a long question and answer session on Friday, senators questioned whether Trump’s actions on January 6 directly put Pence’s life in danger.
As the violence unfolded, Pence was taken to a safe place away from the Senate chamber at 2:14 pm. Approximately 10 minutes later, Trump tweeted an attack on the former vice president, pressing him to find the “courage” to reject the election result for Joe Biden.
“Mike Pence did not have the courage to do what should be done to protect our country and our constitution,” said Trump’s tweet.
On Wednesday, Republican Alabama senator Tommy Tuberville said he had informed Trump that Pence was being escorted to safety in a phone call at the same time Trump sent the tweet.
During the call, Tuberville said Trump asked him for help in delaying Senate confirmation of Joe Biden.
“Well, I don’t know if you’ve talked to President Trump. You can’t talk much, but he didn’t get a chance to say a lot, because I said, ‘Mr. President, they just removed the vice president, I have to go ‘, ”said Tuberville.
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That information led senators to question whether the then president was aware of the seriousness of the violation of the Capitol while he was still launching attacks on those who disagreed with his false claims that the election had been stolen due to electoral fraud.
On Friday, Trump’s defense team denied allegations that the former president was aware that Pence was in danger.
“The answer is no,” said Michael van der Veen on the Senate floor. “At no time was the president informed that the vice president was in danger.”
But Democratic senators vehemently disagreed with that statement.
“As the president of the United States – watching what was going on, knowing that his vice president was in the House, being notified that he had been removed by the Secret Service – did not know that [Pence’s] life was in danger, “Senator Chris Coons, a Democrat from Delaware, told reporters on Friday.
“How can you miss this? My family – just watching the confusion unfold [on television]- were beside themselves with worry. How did the President of the United States not know that an angry mob was attacking the Capitol? “
On Saturday, the Senate passed a last-minute vote to call witnesses to the impeachment trial when new evidence emerged accusing Trump of allying himself with the crowd of his supporters as they invaded the U.S. Capitol.
The January 6 uprising left five people dead, including a Capitol police officer.
Newsweek contacted Kaine’s office for further comments, but received no response in time for publication.