- GOP Senator Tommy Tuberville said again that he told Trump when Pence was evacuated during the Capitol rebellion.
- GOP Senator Bill Cassidy asked about the timeline, and Trump’s tweet attacking Pence, during the trial.
- Trump’s defense attorney dismissed Tuberville’s report as a “rumor.”
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Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville repeated on Friday his statement that he informed President Donald Trump about the evacuation of Vice President Mike Pence from the Senate during the siege of the Capitol. The Trump team cast doubt on the statement during its defense.
“I said, Mr. President, they took the vice president out. They want me to hang up, I have to go,” said Tuberville, according to CNN and others accounts. Tuberville also said he was “probably the only guy in the world” to hang up on the president.
The phone call and schedule were examined during Trump’s impeachment trial, while senators question whether Trump knew Pence was in danger because of the violent crowd when he sent a tweet attacking the vice president.
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“Mike Pence did not have the courage to do what should be done to protect our country and our constitution,” Trump tweeted at 2:24 pm on January 6, as a crowd of his supporters approached the Senate Chamber. Pence was evacuated at 2:13 pm local time.
Tuberville first revealed Wednesday night that he had informed Trump about Pence’s evacuation. The president called the Alabama senator to encourage him to protest against the election’s certification, according to several reports.
Trump actually called Senator Mike Lee, who passed his cell phone to Tuberville. Lee’s office said on Friday that he received Trump’s call at 2:26 pm, or two minutes after Trump’s tweet, the Washington Post reported.
GOP Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana asked Trump’s lawyers and impeachment managers specifically about the tweet during the questioning portion of the trial on Friday.
“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,” said Cassidy. “Does this show that President Trump was tolerant of Vice President Pence’s intimidation?”
Trump’s defense lawyer, Michael van der Veen, contested the timeline facts that Cassidy presented, calling Tuberville’s claim “a rumor.”
After the exchange, reporters questioned Tuberville about the call, prompting him to reiterate his version of the events.
Some lawmakers were also unhappy with the response from Trump’s lawyers.
Senator Elizabeth Warren told reporters that she did not think the answer was appropriate and that the question was important, but “Donald Trump’s lawyers simply, once again, tried to distract, look the other way and divert attention from the underlying question about what the evidence showed that Donald Trump knew and when he knew. “
Independent Senator Angus King also told reporters that he thought the issue was important and that the response from Trump’s lawyers was insufficient.