A lawyer representing Donald Trump in the former Senate impeachment trial in the Senate struggled on Friday to answer pointed questions from Republican senators.
“Just when President Trump heard about the violation of the Capitol? What specific actions did he take to end the unrest, and when did he take them?” the Senate secretary said, reading the questions from the moderated Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska. “Please be as detailed as possible.”
In his response, Trump’s lawyer, Michael T. van der Veen, made it clear that he did not know the answers, which he could have obtained simply by asking these questions to his client.
“The managers of the Chamber have given us absolutely no evidence in one way or another on this issue. We are able to put together a timeline, which goes back to December 31. January 2, there is a lot of interaction between the authorities and making that people have security in advance on the day, “replied van der Veen.
“We have a tweet at 2:38 [on Jan. 6], so it certainly was some time before that. In the rush to bring about this impeachment, there has been absolutely no investigation into it. And that is the problem with this whole process. House administrators haven’t investigated anything, and the American people deserve much more than coming here without any evidence, rumor about rumor about rumor reports. Due process is necessary here, and this has been denied. “
During the presentation of their case, Democratic House managers argued that Trump failed to contain his supporters’ rebellion on Capitol Hill and urged them to commit violence against then Vice President Mike Pence.
Moments after Collins and Murkowski asked their question, Senator Mitt Romney, R-Utah, also sought details with the president’s advice on what Trump knew and when he knew.
“When President Trump sent the derogatory tweet at 2:24 pm about Vice President Pence, was he aware that the Vice President had been removed from the Senate by the Secret Service for his safety?” Romney, whose question was read by the clerk, asked.
Once again, van der Veen blamed the Democrats.
“The answer is no,” said van der Veen. “At no time was the president informed that the vice president was in danger. As the Chamber has moved forward on this impeachment in seven days without any evidence, there is absolutely nothing recorded on that point. Because the Chamber has failed to do even a minimum What the president knew, there was a violent riot going on at the Capitol. That’s why he repeatedly called via tweet and video so that the disturbances would stop, be peaceful, respect the Capitol Police and the authorities and not commit violence. and go home. “
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