Republican senators say they were fascinated by the new video by the House’s impeachment administrators showing the attacks on the Capitol and how protesters got close to legislators.
The Chamber’s impeachment managers, as part of their presentation on Wednesday, showed a video never seen before by lawmakers and former vice president Mike Pence
Michael (Mike) Richard PenceThe Republican Party must expel its Democratic demons to seek emotion at the Trump trial This week: Senate starts Trump’s trial as Democrats draft coronavirus bill MORE evacuate the Senate chamber, as well as calls to the Senate majority leader Charles Schumer
Chuck SchumerTrump’s lawyer says Roberts’ absence creates a conflict of interest for Democrats Budget reconciliation may be the only hope for lower drug prices LIVE COVERAGE: Senate opens second Trump impeachment trial MORE (DN.Y.) and Sen. Mitt Romney
Willard (Mitt) Mitt Romney GOP senators send a clear signal: Trump is being acquitted Begala: Trump represented by Senate ‘Meandering and Furious’ votes constitutional trial; six republicans vote “yes” MORE (R-Utah).
The videos seemed to resonate emotionally with Republican senators, but did not necessarily affect their final decision on Trump’s sentencing. Most of the senators were in the chamber when it closed on January 6, when protesters stormed the building and effectively watched their own escape as part of the presentation in the Chamber.
GOP Sen. Susan Collins
Susan Margaret Collins GP senators send a clear signal: Trump is being acquitted Begala: Trump represented by ‘Meandering and Furious’ GOP senators ‘baffled’ by ‘out of focus’ and ‘weaker’ Trump legal defense MORE (Maine), a decisive vote, emphasized that she had not made a final decision, but called the Chamber’s presentation “fascinating” and “attractive”.
“It was reliving that day with some additional details that just reinforce my belief that it was a terrible day for our country and that there is no doubt that it was an attempt to interrupt the counting of electoral votes,” said Collins.
The camera during the viewing of the videos, she added, was “extremely quiet. You could have heard a pin fall. ”
Asked about his reaction to the videos, the senator Jerry Moran
Gerald (Jerry) MoranOvernight Defense: Pentagon says extremist groups ‘recruit troops very aggressively’ | Capitol Guard deployment estimated at 3M | No US combat deaths in Afghanistan for a year | The VA secretary confirms that the Senate confirms that Denis McDonough leads the VA under Biden. The Senate signals broad support for more targeted coronavirus relief checks (R-Kansas), described the attack as “graphic” and “disgusting”.
“It was a set of terrible circumstances and a set of heart-breaking videos,” said Moran.
Sen. Rob Portman
Robert (Rob) Jones PortmanOvernight Health Care: White House to send coronavirus vaccines directly to community health centers | WHO: ‘Improbable’ that COVID-19 came from a laboratory | Uber and Walgreens will offer free rides to COVID vaccine sites. Tanden seeks to defuse tensions in the Republican Party over tweets Tanden apologizes for derogatory GOP tweets MORE (R-Ohio) said watching the footage was “reliving a horrible day, a horrible day”.
“This, this is not easy. … I talked to some leaders and they were, you know, in their offices and people were knocking on doors. And that was much more frightening, ”said Portman.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski
Lisa Ann Murkowski GOP senators send a clear signal: Trump is being acquitted Begala: Trump represented by ‘Meandering and Furious’ GOP senators ‘baffled’ by ‘out of focus’ and ‘weaker’ Trump legal defense MORE (R-Alaska), another potential decisive vote, called the videos “disturbing”.
“I’m hungry. I’m upset. I’m sad. Like you said, we’re reliving this,” she said.
Murkowski, like Collins, said he had not made a decision on how he was going to vote, but that he believed that the House’s impeachment administrators were making a “strong case” and that the evidence presented so far was “quite overwhelming”.
Rep. Jamie Raskin
Jamin (Jamie) Ben RaskinVideo arouses emotions on the first day of Trump’s trial. Republican Party senators “perplexed” by Trump’s legal defense “out of focus” and “weaker”. (D-Md.), The chief impeachment manager, warned senators before the presentation that would include distressing and sometimes graphic material.
Then, the impeachment managers gave a detailed presentation of how the hooligans entered the building and checked how close they got to lawmakers.
The images included videos of Pence and subsequently senators evacuating as protesters were already on the second floor of the Capitol, near the entrance to the Senate chamber.
Sen. Dan Sullivan
Daniel Scott SullivanOVERNIGHT ENERGY: Senate advances nomination for Biden EPA pick Regan | Study: Fossil fuel air pollution associated with 1 in 5 deaths worldwide | Biden has more time to decide on Dakota Access Pipeline Senate advances Biden’s nomination EPA chooses Regan within America’s most dysfunctional body of law MORE (R-Alaska) said he was “angry” watching the new footage.
“It is intense. … Many of us remember this from our perspective. But you have different perspectives. So it’s a bad day, no doubt, ”he said.
Sen. Steve Daines
Steven (Steve) David Daines Centrist Democrats pose a major problem for progressives. Overnight Energy: Biden Faces Requests to Close Dakota Access Pipeline Hackers violate and attempt to poison Florida city water supply | Daines tries to block Haaland’s confirmation of the Interior ‘prisoner dilemma’ The impeachment of the Republican Party MORE (R-Mont.) I didn’t want to say whether the videos changed his thinking about the final vote to condemn or absolve Trump, but he said the presentation in the House “brings back all the horrible memories of that day”.
In another clip not seen before, Romney and an aide appear to be walking towards the side of the Capitol House. Officer Eugene Goodman stops them and Romney turns to run back to the Senate chamber.
“It was obviously very worrying to see the great violence that our Capitol Police and others were subjected to. It tears your heart and brings tears to your eyes. It was extremely distressing and emotional,” Romney told reporters, adding that he was not aware how close he got to the rioters.
Romney appeared to report his experience to Portman and Sen. Ron Johnson
Ronald (Ron) Harold JohnsonSenate Approves Organizational Resolution for Trump’s Second Trial LIVE COVERAGE: Senate Opens Trump’s Second Impeachment Trial The Republican Party’s ‘prisoner dilemma’ impeachment MORE (R-Wis.) Once the Senate met again, pointing to Goodman while talking to the other two Republican senators. Portman went over to Goodman and punched him.
Romney later had a conversation with Goodman.
“I expressed my gratitude to him for coming to my aid, putting me back on the path to safety,” said Romney.
Romney said he was on his way to the Capitol work area after being alerted that there were protesters in the building, but Goodman instructed him to return to the chamber.
Even with Republicans looking touched by the videos, they are unlikely to vote to condemn Trump. If each Democrat votes to be convicted, they would need 17 Republican senators. Only a handful are seen as a potential decisive vote.
But Republicans acknowledge that the House’s impeachment administrators did a good job defending their position.
“These guys were – I think they were very effective. And I will see what kind of arguments the defense made. But yes, I will listen and draw conclusions when it is all done,” said the senator. John Thune
John Randolph Thune The ‘prisoner dilemma’ of Republican Party impeachment sees rapid impeachment trial Trump House vote to expel Greene from committees for adopting conspiracy theories MORE (RS.D.).
“I think they did a good job connecting the dots,” he added. “The Twitter president’s feed is a matter of public record and they did, as I said, an effective job of going back several months and just showing that public record. ”
Updated at 20h13