Trump attorney gives false answer to the question of whether Trump knew Pence was in danger
(Credit: Senate TV)
Michael van der Veen, attorney for former President Donald Trump, said during the question-and-answer phase of the impeachment process that the then president “never” knew Vice President Mike Pence was in danger during the assault on Capitol Hill.
However, Senator Tommy Tuberville, R-Alabama, told reporters this week that he spoke to Trump during the riots on Jan. 6, telling him that the U.S. Secret Service had just removed Pence from the rioters.
These were the words of Tuberville: “I said, ‘Mr. President, hey, they just took the Vice President away, I have to go.”
CNN reported that Trump falsely called the personal cell phone of Senator Mike Lee, Republican of Utah, shortly after 2 p.m. local time on Jan. 6. At that point, the senators had been evacuated from the Senate floor and found themselves in a temporary waiting room, when a crowd of supporters began to storm the Capitol.
Lee answered the phone and Trump identified himself. Then it became clear he was looking for Tuberville and he had the wrong number. Lee left the president on hold, went to find his colleague, and handed his phone to Tuberville. He told him the president was on the line and tried to reach him.
Tuberville spoke to Trump for less than 10 minutes. The president tried to convince him to raise additional objections to the electoral college vote, in a futile attempt to block Congressional certification for the victory of then-president-elect Joe Biden, according to a source familiar with the call. Communication was cut because the senators were asked to move to a safe place. Tuberville said in that phone call he said to Trump that Pence had been evacuated.
The timeline posts that call before Trump tweeted about Pence.
The then president’s tweet at 2:24 pm said, “Mike Pence did not have the courage to do what he had to do to protect our country and our constitution, giving states the ability to certify a series of corrected facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones who had to certify them before America demands the truth!
On Tuesday, the first day of Trump’s second impeachment trial, Tuberville and Lee briefly addressed a last-minute objection Lee made in the Senate over the phone call.
Lee noted that the House prosecutors “made statements attributed to me, characterized them repeatedly and consisted of statements I did not make.”
Chief Prosecutor Jamie Raskin withdrew his remarks and Lee withdrew his objection.