The impeachment trial of former President Donald J. Trump revolved around his actions that led to the violent attack on the Capitol on January 6.
But there was a crucial period that day of nearly five hours – between the end of Trump’s speech at Ellipse, urging his supporters to march to the Capitol, and a final tweet telling his followers to remember the day forever – that remains critical of the your state of mind.
Evidence emerged during the trial of what Trump was doing during those hours, from approximately 1 pm to 6 pm, including new details about two calls to lawmakers that prosecutors said clearly warned the president about chaos on Capitol Hill.
One was a call from the White House to Sen. Mike Lee, Utah Republican, at 2:26 pm, according to the call records the senator provided during the impeachment process.
The president had made the call, but he was actually looking for Senator Tommy Tuberville, Republican of Alabama. Lee gave the phone to Tuberville, who told reporters he informed Trump that Vice President Mike Pence had just been escorted out as the crowd approached the Senate chamber.
“I said, ‘Mr. President, they just removed the vice president, I have to go, ‘”Tuberville told Politico.
House prosecutors used the information on this call to argue that Trump was clearly aware that the vice president was in danger and that he had a cruel disregard for Pence’s safety. On Friday, Trump’s defense team insisted that Trump was unaware of any danger that Pence faced.
The other link was between Congressman Kevin McCarthy of California, the Republican leader of the House, and President Trump, who became heated, according to a Republican Congresswoman, Congressman Jaime Herrera Beutler of Washington State.
In a statement on Friday night that was admitted as evidence at the trial on Saturday, Ms. Herrera Beutler said that McCarthy had a screaming fight with Trump during the call.
Mr. McCarthy told Mr. Trump that the windows in his own office were being broken into. “Well, Kevin, I think these people are more upset about the election than you are,” said Trump, according to a CNN report that the congresswoman confirmed.
“Who do you think you’re talking to?” McCarthy responded at one point, CNN reported, including a bad word.