WASHINGTON (AP) – Donald Trump’s Senate impeachment trial hit an obstacle when Republican Senator Mike Lee of Utah contested how Democrats characterized a call from the president during the Capitol insurrection.
After discussions on the subject that seemed to confuse everyone, Casa Democrata’s impeachment managers agreed to take their words off the record and move on. They said the episode was not vital in the event that Trump incited the crowd on January 6. But their account on Wednesday night was correct to begin with.
Rep. DAVID CICILLINE of Rhode Island, impeacher: “Sen. Lee describes it. He had just finished a prayer with his colleagues here in the Senate House and the phone rang. It was Donald Trump. And as Senator Lee explains, the call is something like this. – Hey, Tommy – Trump asks. And Senator Lee said, ‘This is not Tommy’. And he passes the phone to Senator Tuberville. Senator Lee then confirmed that he stood still while Senator Tuberville and President Trump spoke on the phone. And on that call, Donald Trump reportedly asked Senator Tuberville to raise additional objections to the certification process. That’s why he called. “
LEE, asking for comments on the phone call to be removed from the process record: “Statements were attributed to me moments ago by the impeachment managers of the Chamber (who) were not made by me, are not accurate”. He added: “They are not true. I never made those statements ”.
THE FACTS: By his own admission, Lee made the statements directly attributed to him. He did not publicly describe what was said on the phone call – but Democrats did not claim he did.
Cicilline said that on the call, Trump “allegedly” asked Senate Republicans to delay certification of Joe Biden as the next president. In fact, new published reports say just that, citing anonymous sources. The Associated Press did not confirm this news.
But there is no doubt, as the Democrat said, that Lee received a call from Trump, realized that the President intended to call Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville and handed the phone over to his colleague, who was nearby while Trump and Tuberville were talking. We know this because Lee himself described this scene.
He told this in text messages to Bryan Schott, reporter for The Salt Lake Tribune.
“I went to meet Senator Tuberville, gave him my phone and explained that the president would like to speak to him,” Lee wrote in a message. “I was around for the next five or ten minutes while they were talking, not wanting to lose my phone in the middle of a crisis.
“Then the Capitol Police got very nervous and ordered us to evacuate the chamber immediately. As they were forcing everyone out of the chamber, I awkwardly found myself interrupting the same phone conversation I had just facilitated.
“Excuse me, Tommy, we have to evacuate. Can I have my phone? ‘
“Senator Tuberville promptly ended the call and returned my phone to the rightful owner.”
House prosecutors produced a series of public statements by Trump as he openly stirred his supporters’ anger over Congressional action to affirm Biden’s electoral victory. They said that phone call was not the center of their argument. But they said they could go back to that.
After the rebels were expelled from the Capitol, lawmakers certified the victory of Biden’s electoral bond. Lee did not vote against certification. Tuberville was one of six Republican senators who voted to support an objection raised against Arizona’s electoral votes.
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EDITOR’S NOTE – A look at the truth of the claims of political figures.
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