“Senators, you’ve seen all the evidence so far. And this is clear. On January 6th, President Trump left everyone in this Capitol for dead,” said Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Tex.), who described how the commander in chief did not call in the military to aid the overwhelmed police.
Here’s what to know:
Romney says he did not realize how close to danger he was until watching security footage
Return to menuSen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) said he did not know how close he was to danger on Jan. 6, after watching security video that showed him initially walking toward a pro-Trump mob that overran the Capitol in the violent siege.
Romney bumped into Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman, who directed him away from the mob. In the security footage, Romney can be seen turning, then running away along with Goodman.
“No, I did not know that was Officer Goodman. I look forward to thanking him when I next see him,” Romney told reporters during a dinner recess after watching House impeachment managers lay out their case over several intense hours.
Romney added that he felt “very fortunate indeed that Officer Goodman was there to get me in the right direction.”
When the trial resumed Wednesday night, Romney was seen talking to Goodman. He later told reporters that Goodman took him through what Jan. 6 had been like for him, saying he was exhausted and nauseated from breathing in bear spray and tear gas.
“I expressed my appreciation to him for coming to my aid and getting me back into the path of safety and expressed my appreciation for all that he did that day,” Romney told reporters.
House impeachment managers on Wednesday aired several clips of previously unreleased security footage inside the Capitol on the day of the siege, which included scenes of what police officers endured as the mob overtook the building.
“It was obviously very troubling to see the great violence that our Capitol Police and others were subjected to,” Romney said. “It tears at your heart and brings tears to your eyes. That was overwhelmingly distressing and emotional.”
Romney, who has indicated he is open to convicting Trump, said he did not know whether the footage would change the minds of his fellow GOP colleagues.
“I can’t predict how other people will react,” he said.
GOP. Sen. Mike Lee objected to evidence in managers’ case naming him as source about a Trump call
Return to menuAfter the House managers closed their case for the night, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) stood to object to earlier testimony that cited him as the source about a phone conversation Trump had with another Republican senator during the Jan. 6 attack.
The statements “were not made by me, they’re not accurate and they’re contrary to fact,” Lee said, asking that they be stricken from the record.
House manager Rep. David N. Cicilline (D-R.I.), during his remarks, referred to a phone call Trump placed to Lee looking for Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.). Cicilline described the content of the call and attributed Lee as the source. In the call, Cicilline said, Trump asked Tuberville to continue to try to stop the certification even as the siege was underway at the Capitol.
Lee’s office has confirmed the call to news outlets, including The Washington Post, but reporting on what Trump and Tuberville discussed was not attributed to Lee.
After some brief confusion on the Senate floor with how to proceed with Lee’s request, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the head House manager, agreed to remove it for now and review it.
Cicilline “correctly and accurately quoted a newspaper account which the distinguished senator has taken objection to. So we’re happy to withdraw it on the grounds that it is not true,” Raskin said. “We’re going to withdraw it this evening and without any prejudice to the ability to resubmit it if possible. And then we can debate it if we need it. But it’s not, this is much ado about nothing because it’s not critical in any way to our case.”
“You’re not the one being cited as a witness, sir,” Lee interjected.
It’s unclear what newspaper account Raskin is referring to that cited Lee as the source for the content of the call. In his hometown newspaper the Deseret News, Lee confirms that Trump called him looking for Tuberville and gave Tuberville his phone. He also said he had to interrupt Tuberville’s call to get his phone back because the senators were being evacuated.
The Deseret News did not describe the content of Trump’s call with Tuberville. Other news organizations have cited sources who said Trump urged Tuberville to slow the certification process by objecting to additional slates of electors — but they did not attribute that information to Lee, who did not participate in the call.
Trump’s lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani, made the same mistake of calling Lee while looking for Tuberville and left a voice mail asking him to slow the certification, audio of which was played at the trial.
Rep. Castro: “On Jan. 6, President Trump left everyone in this Capitol for dead”
Return to menuRep. Joaquin Castro (D-Tex.), a House impeachment manager, used several clips of high-profile Republicans on Jan. 6 begging Trump to call off the attack on the Capitol to make the Democrats’ case that the former president had the power to do so but chose not to.
“Senators, you’ve seen all the evidence so far. And this is clear. On January 6th, President Trump left everyone in this Capitol for dead,” Castro said.
Some of those clips included ones of Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), who first went on Twitter to tell Trump to “call it off” before giving a live television interview to make the same plea.
Castro also cited tweets by Mick Mulvaney, then-U. S. special envoy for Northern Ireland, and then-White House Communications Director Alyssa Farah urging Trump to call off the rioters because he is “the only one they’ll listen to.”
Former New Jersey governor Chris Christie, who has advised Trump, said on Jan. 6 that Trump not calling off the attack on the Capitol was an “abrogation of his responsibility” as commander in chief.
“He’s right! Chris Christie is right!” Castro said.
Rep. Cicilline shows how Trump ‘delighted’ in attacks, did nothing to stop them
Return to menuRep. David N. Cicilline (D-R.I.) laid out Trump’s actions as the attacks were unfolding, showing how he did nothing to stop them, but instead remained solely focused on delaying the certification of Biden’s victory.
“We all know that President Trump had the power to stop these attacks. He was our commander in chief. He had the power to assess the security situation, send backup, send help. He also had incited this violent attack. They were listening to him. He could have commanded them to leave,” Cicilline said. “But he didn’t.”
“His singular focus that day, the day we were attacked, was not protecting us. It was not protecting you, was not protecting the Capitol. It was stopping the certification of the election results.”
Cicilline describes how at 2 p.m., shortly after the siege began, Trump called for Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) on Sen. Mike Lee’s (R-Utah) phone and in that call asked Tuberville to do what he could to continue delaying the certification even as lawmakers and his own aides begged him to intervene and get his supporters to back down.
The manager then played audio of a voice mail Trump’s lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani, left for Tuberville the night of the attack with a similar message: “I’m calling in because I want to discuss with you how they’re trying to rush this and how we need you, our Republican friends, to try to just slow it down.”
Cicilline closed with a direct appeal to the senators: “These attackers stood right where you are, they went on that rostrum, they rifled through your desks and they desecrated this place. And literally, the president sat delighted doing nothing to help us.”
Several GOP senators say impeachment presentation was ‘very effective’ but won’t say whether it changed their minds
Return to menuSeveral Republican senators appeared moved by the House impeachment managers’ presentation Wednesday, which included numerous clips of previously unaired security footage of the violent riot, though the senators did not indicate whether the evidence had convinced them to convict Trump.
“I think they were very effective. They had a strong, strong presentation put together in a way that I think makes it pretty compelling,” said Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.). ”I think they’ve done a good job of connecting the dots.”
Thune added that Trump’s Twitter feed was a matter of public record and that he thought they had done “an effective job of going back several months and just showing that public record.”
Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) said the footage brought back “horrible memories” but wouldn’t say whether it changed his mind in the case. He had voted against moving forward with the trial on Tuesday. Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) said seeing the new footage made him angry.
“Replaying what happened, we know it was going to be an intense experience; for me at least, it brings back a lot of anger,” Sullivan said.
Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) said “it was reliving a horrible day” and said he felt for his staff and claimed that “very few” of his colleagues felt they were in danger.
“From the start, I’ve said that I think this is about removal. And I think it’s a bad precedent to be convicting former presidents, private citizens,” Portman said. “So that’s, I’m considering that as, you know, as I listen. I’m listening. I’m a juror.”
Portman acknowledged that the House impeachment managers had made a compelling case.
“I’m, I’m impressed with the presenters. Yeah, that link [between Trump and the mob’s actions] — we’ll see.”
Watch the previously unreleased footage shown at Wednesday’s trial
Return to menuDel. Stacey Plaskett (D-Virgin Islands) and Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) revealed previously unseen security camera footage and law enforcement audio from the Jan. 6 attack. They also revealed body camera footage that had previously been reported by the New York Times.
The new footage reveals security evacuating Vice President Mike Pence and his family down a flight of stairs 14 minutes after protesters had entered the building. Until then, Pence had been huddled with his family in an office near the Senate chamber. A Washington Post analysis previously reported that rioters came within 100 feet of his location.
The footage also shows senators being hustled out of the chamber down a flight of stairs and confirms that they came within yards of the growing crowd of Trump supporters who had spread across the building despite the efforts of overwhelmed police.
The footage also includes new angles of previously reported events, including the moment in which rioters first breached the Capitol building, Officer Eugene Goodman’s efforts to divert rioters away from the still full Senate chamber and the minutes before Ashli Babbitt, a Trump supporter and Air Force veteran, was shot and killed.
Rep. Swalwell highlights attacks on police during Capitol riot
Return to menuRep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) spent much of the last part of his presentation Wednesday describing in harrowing detail the attacks on police officers who were guarding the Capitol — and those inside it — during the Jan. 6 riot by a pro-Trump mob.
At one point, Swalwell showed footage of D.C. Police officer Daniel Hodges being crushed against a door by the mob storming the building.
“Rioters crushed Officer Hodges,” Swalwell said. “He was wedged in the doorway, blood dripping from his mouth. He was struggling to breathe. All while the insurrectionists hit him.”
Swalwell said lawmakers, staffers and all who were working at the Capitol that day were “blessed” to have officers like Hodges protecting the building. He also paid tribute to Capitol Police officer Brian D. Sicknick, who died of injuries he sustained during the riot, as well as Capitol Police officer Howard Liebengood and D.C. Police officer Jeffery Smith, both of whom died by suicide days after the attack.
“Officer Hodges’s experience reminds you of what he and many other officers experienced that day, what they went through,” said Swalwell, who is the son and brother of law enforcement officers. ”We’re also reminded of the three officers who lost their lives — Capitol Hill police officers Sicknick, Liebengood and Metropolitan Police Officer Smith.”
Sen. Murkowski says she can’t imagine the nation electing Trump again after House managers’ presentation
Return to menuSen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), a frequent critic of Trump, said Wednesday that she couldn’t imagine him getting elected again after House managers sought to make the case that the ex-president incited the deadly attack on the Capitol.
“I don’t see how after the American public sees the whole story laid out here … this whole scenario laid out before us, I don’t see how Donald Trump could be reelected to the presidency again,” Murkowski told reporters.
The House managers are trying to convince the Senate to convict Trump on a charge of incitement of insurrection but face an uphill battle in persuading 17 Republicans to join all 50 Democrats. If convicted, the Senate could by a simple majority vote to bar Trump from future elected office.
Trump has hinted that he could run again in 2024.
Murkowski credited the work of the nine House impeachment managers for “making a very strong case.” She said senators were reliving that fateful day “within a comprehensive timeline.”
The evidence, she said, “so far is pretty damning.”
Murkowski was one of six Republicans to vote to proceed with the trial as the Senate declared it was constitutional. Forty-four Republicans voted on Tuesday against proceeding.
Rep. Swalwell tells senators the mob was only ’58 steps away’ from them
Return to menuRep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), a House impeachment manager, told senators that the mob was merely 58 steps away from them, using previously unreleased security footage to illustrate just how close to danger they had come.
“Those of you who were here that day will recall that once you left the Senate floor, you moved through a hallway to get to safety,” Swalwell said, addressing the senators directly, noting that it was the same hallway where Capitol police officer Eugene D. Goodman had encountered part of the mob and led them away from the Senate chamber.
“You know how close you came to the mob. Some of you, I understand, could hear them,” Swalwell continued. “But most of the public does not know how close these rioters came to you. As you were moving through that hallway, I paced it off. You were just 58 steps away.”
Swalwell then showed security video of Capitol police officers creating a line to block the hallway the senators were using to evacuate. Because it was previously unreleased footage, he said, he played it twice.
Swalwell also showed additional security footage of the shooting of Ashli Babbitt, one of the rioters who tried to climb through a broken door window; on the other side of the door were members of Congress. Other footage showed how Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and his protective detail had “a near miss with the mob.”
“They came within just yards of rioters and had to turn around,” Swalwell said.
Previously unseen security footage shows Pence evacuating Capitol during riot
Return to menuThe House impeachment managers on Wednesday presented the Senate with previously unseen security footage of the Capitol during the Jan. 6 attack, including Vice President Mike Pence’s evacuation from a room near the Senate chamber.
“They were coming at the urging of Donald Trump to keep Congress, a separate branch of government, from certifying the results of a presidential election,” Del. Stacey Plaskett (D-Virgin Islands) said of the rioters.
One part of the video shows a lone Capitol Police officer, Eugene Goodman, run downstairs to confront a mob in a Capitol hallway, just outside the Senate chamber.
As Goodman led the mob up the stairs, the rioters were at one moment within 100 feet of the small room where the vice president was sheltering with his family, according to Plaskett. Goodman led the mob away from where Pence was hiding.
The surveillance video then shows Pence, along with his security detail and members of his family and staff, being evacuated down a Capitol stairway to a secure location away from the building. The evacuation took place at 2:26 p.m. — 14 minutes after rioters entered the building.
“As Pence was being evacuated, rioters began to spread throughout the Capitol. … And the mob was looking for Vice President Pence because of his patriotism, because the vice president refused to do what the president demand[ed] and overturn the election results,” she said.
Video and audio recordings from the siege suggest members of the mob were after Pence for his role in formalizing Biden as president. At one point, rioters chanted “Hang Mike Pence!”
At 2:24 p.m., two minutes before Pence was evacuated, Trump lashed out at the vice president in a tweet.
“Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, giving States a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify,” Trump said. “USA demands the truth!”
Plaskett describes in chilling details how the mob wanted to kill Pence, Pelosi
Return to menuDel. Stacey Plaskett (D-Virgin Islands) described in chilling detail how the rioters set out to kill Vice President Mike Pence and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and how close they came to not only the first and second in line to the presidency, but also their family and staff.
“They said that anyone they got their hands on, they would have killed, including Nancy Pelosi. And that, quote, ‘they would have killed Vice President Mike Pence if given the chance.’ They were talking about assassinating the vice president of the United States,” Plaskett said, citing an FBI affidavit.
She showed how the mob spread out through the Capitol searching for Pelosi, and that so grave was the threat to her life that she was taken to an off-site location away from the Capitol complex.
She read from one rioters’ own Facebook post: “The first of us who got upstairs kicked in Nancy Pelosi’s office door and pushed down the halls towards her inner sanctum, the mob howling with rage Crazy Nancy probably would have been torn into little pieces, but she was nowhere to be seen.”
“Crazy Nancy,” Plaskett said. “That’s Trump’s nickname for the speaker of the House.”
She showed video of the rioters chanting: “Nancy, where are you, Nancy? We’re looking for you.” Another tauntingly called, “Nancy. Oh, Nancy.”
Security video also shows Pelosi’s staffers running into one room where they barricaded themselves, and then inside an interior room. Minutes later, the rioters are seen in the same hallway where the staff had just been, and men are seen throwing their bodies against that outer door. One gets inside, but gives up when faced with the inner room.
The staffers could hear them calling for Pelosi as they ransacked and took over her office. Plaskett points out that in the now-infamous photo of one man sitting at a desk with his foot on it, he is carrying a stun gun the FBI identified as a 950,000-volt walking stick, a weapon that could have caused serious pain and incapacitation had it been used.
“President Trump put a target on their backs,” Plaskett said in closing, “and his mob broke into the Capitol to hunt them down.”
Officer Eugene Goodman directs Mitt Romney to safety in new video
Return to menuBefore he faced down a mob of pro-Trump rioters on Jan. 6, U.S. Capitol Police officer Eugene Goodman encountered Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and directed him to turn around to avoid the rioters.
Security footage, shown for the first time at the Senate trial Wednesday, shows Romney stopping and quickly running in the opposite direction after he interacts with Goodman.
“There is more to his heroic story,” Del. Stacey Plaskett (D-Virgin Islands) said of Goodman and his actions to protect lawmakers.
On the floor below, she said, was the “mob searching for the Senate chamber.”
Previous footage had shown Goodman, who is Black, holding back dozens of mostly White rioters, who moved swiftly up a flight of stairs as he appeared to lure the group away from the Senate chambers, where lawmakers and staff were taking shelter.
‘They’re throwing metal poles at us,’ officer shouts in previously unreleased police audio
Return to menuIn previously unreleased radio communication audio from the D.C. police, officers can be heard begging for backup, telling dispatchers there are “multiple Capitol injuries” and saying that rioters were throwing metal poles at police.
Presenting the previously unaired audio, House impeachment manager Rep. Stacey Plaskett (D-Virgin Islands) said it showed how, following Trump’s speech, his supporters “descended on the Capitol and became increasingly violent.”
“Multiple Capitol injuries, multiple Capitol injuries,” one officer can be heard radioing in, as a dispatcher advises officers that there is a group of about 50 rioters “charging up the hill on the west front just north of the stairs.”
“They’re starting to dismantle the reviewing stand. They’re throwing metal poles at us,” an officer states.
“Cruiser 50, give me DSO up here now! DSO! Multiple law enforcement injuries DSO, get up here!” another officer shouts frantically, referring to Domestic Security Operations, which handles the chemical munitions, such as pepper spray and CS gas, for the department.
As the situation escalates, the officers continue shouting for backup.
“We need some reinforcements up here now. They’re starting to pull the gates down. They’re throwing metal poles at us,” one yells.
Raskin warns new footage will be ‘very graphic, violent’
Return to menuRep. Jamie B. Raskin’s chief of staff, Julie Tagen, sent an email to Hill staffers at 3:55 p.m. warning the next presentation “will be VERY rough to see.
“We all went through a lot that day and you are all true public servants and patriots,” Tagen wrote.
About 20 minutes later, Raskin (D-Md.), the lead impeachment manager, was on the floor himself issuing a warning to the chamber before the presentation that there will be “very graphic, violent footage.”
The House impeachment managers were “really shaken up” by the newly revealed footage when they first saw it, two people working on the trial said.
An aide to the managers said the upcoming footage will be powerful and graphic, revealing how close members of Congress were to danger. The managers said it could hit senators hard because they believe some were not completely aware of the severity of their danger.