When exactly previous President Trump
Donald TrumpCapitol Police does not cast a vote of confidence in the post-election call of Graham leaders with the Secretary of State for Georgia to be investigated: Trump report told McCarthy that protesters “more upset about the election than you” learned that the Capitol was violated on January 6 and is under increasing scrutiny by key Republican senators as they ponder whether to vote to condemn it.
The emphasis on Trump’s actions gained a sharper focus as part of an hour-long question-and-answer session on Friday, just a day before the Senate voted if he was guilty of “serious crimes and misdemeanors” for ” deliberately inciting violence against the United States Government. “
Four of the six Republican Party senators viewed as potential undecided votes tried to gain new insight into when Trump found out that the Capitol had been breached and how he responded, highlighting how it became a significant issue for a handful of undecided Republican senators.
“The real question is what was the president’s intention, right?” said the Sen. Bill Cassidy
Bill CassidyTuberville defends report of Trump’s call during Capitol riot The Memorandum: Republican Party senators face decisive vote in Trump’s office Cassidy says he is evaluating decision on Trump’s vote MORE (R-La.), One of the four senators. “Only the president could answer that, and the president chose not to testify.”
GOP Sens. Susan Collins
Susan Margaret CollinsThe Memorandum: Republican Party senators face decisive vote on Trump’s lawyers Trump says the former president did not know that Pence was in danger in the question of Republican Party senators on Capitol Hill when Trump learned that the Capitol was violated MORE (Maine) and Lisa Murkowski
Lisa Ann MurkowskiThe Memo: Republican Party Senators face final vote on Trump NIGHT ENERGY: Court rejects Trump’s move to open 10 million acres for mining | Treasury will add climate czar | Manchin pushes natural gas in letter to Biden – key for Republican Party senators to question when Trump knew the Capitol was violated MORE (Alaska) asked what “specific actions” Trump took after learning of the Capitol violation, urging his legal team to “be as specific as possible”.
Collins and Sen. Mitt Romney
Willard (Mitt) Mitt RomneyThe Memorandum: Republican Party Senators face final vote on Trump Lawmakers applaud Officer Eugene Goodman Senate approves bill to award Congressional gold medal to Capitol police officer MORE (R-Utah) also asked if Trump knew that his vice president, Mike Pence
Michael (Mike) Richard PenceTrump’s lawyers say the former president did not know that Pence was in danger in the question of Republican Party senators on Capitol Hill when Trump learned that the Capitol was violated., was removed from the Senate chamber for his safety when Trump tweeted partly at 2:24 pm that Pence “did not have the courage to do what should have been done”, following Trump’s efforts to get his vice president to intervene at the Count of Colegio Electoral.
Trump’s lawyers were unable to say when specifically the former president found out that a crowd had violated the Capitol, but said that, based on his tweets, it was before 2:38 pm. But they denied that he knew that Pence was in danger.
“The answer is no,” Trump’s lawyer, Michael van der Veen, said on the Senate floor. “At no time was the president informed that the vice president was in danger.”
The questions offer a rare insight into what topics potential senators with a decisive vote are still pondering after four days of initial arguments and how the trial is about to end on Saturday.
The answers did not seem to satisfy both Collins and Murkowski.
“It was like, ‘Wait a minute. It wasn’t very responsive,'” said Murkowski. “I thought it would be a better attempt a second time, but, yes, I didn’t think it was an answer to our question.”
Collins added, “I didn’t think I received an answer, but I’m not sure if it was the attorney’s fault.”
She said “it is difficult to answer a question like that” after the House refused to hold hearings to establish certain basic facts.
“I expected one side or the other to have it, because I think it is a very important issue to know when the president learned that the barricades were broken,” she said.
In yet another warning signal to Trump’s legal team, Cassidy – who emerged in a decisive vote at the last minute – raised a subsequent issue that was based on a disclosure this week by Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Wing), who said Trump said that Pence had been removed from the Senate chamber.
“Senator Tuberville reports that he spoke to President Trump at 2:15 pm. He told the president that the vice president has just been evacuated. I assumed it was understood at the time that protesters had entered the Capitol and threatened the security of senators and the vice president, ”wrote Cassidy in his question.
Cassidy, in her question, then noted that Trump later tweeted that Pence “lacked courage” and had not, at that point, called for police reinforcement.
“The tweet and the lack of response suggest that President Trump did not care that Vice President Pence was in danger or that the police were overwhelmed,” Cassidy continued in her question.
How Cassidy could vote on the impeachment trial is under increasing scrutiny after he supported the senators who considered the constitutional trial this week.
He was the only one of the six senators who voted for the continuation that previously supported a Sen effort. Rand Paul
Randal (Rand) Howard PaulCome on, Republicans – Trump stirred up the crowd, and it’s obvious how he did it. Most Kentucky residents disapprove of McConnell’s work on the Senate panel. (R-Ky.) At the end of last month to declare the lawsuit against the former president unconstitutional.
But the Trump team said it rejected the premise of Cassidy’s question, arguing that it was based on Tuberville’s “rumors”.
“I discuss the premise of your facts,” van der Veen told Cassidy.
Tuberville unwittingly revived questions about when Trump knew Pence was in danger this week. He revealed to reporters on Wednesday that he informed Trump, who called him during the attack, that Pence had been removed from the chamber.
Tuberville told reporters on Friday night that he maintained his position. Pressed to see if the call was made at 2:15 pm, he said he was not sure about the exact time, but that the call happened as he said.
“[I] answered. It was the president. He said a few things. I said ‘Mr. President, they removed the vice president. They want me to hang up the phone. I have to go, ‘”said Tuberville.
Pence was evacuated from the chamber at 2:13 pm, and the Senate chamber was closed around 2:15 pm, according to a January 6 report on the pool by Washington Post reporter Paul Kane, who was taking shelter inside the chamber.
Cassidy’s question caught the attention of other senators, who considered it a highlight of the hour-long session.
Romney – the only Republican senator who voted on one of the impeachment articles against Trump last year – credited Cassidy for asking the question “in more detail and that also clarified his answers”.
But Cassidy said he was not satisfied with the answer.
“I mean, it was obviously not a rumor. Tuberville was right there, ”said Cassidy. “I didn’t think it was a very good answer.”