Donald Trump
Questions were raised in the Senate impeachment trial by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle about when former President Donald Trump knew about the severity of the U.S. Capitol riots that occurred on Jan. 6. Some seemed to highlight Trump's response to the fracas as indicating his alleged intent to incite the violent demonstration. However, proceedings ended before they got a definitive answer.
What Did Trump Know and When?
Michael Van Der Veen
According to The Hill, "four of the six GOP senators viewed as potential swing votes tried to gain new insight about when Trump found out the Capitol had been breached and how he had responded.” The former president's attorneys could not pinpoint the exact moment Trump was informed that rioters had forced their way into the Capitol building but indicated that it was before 2:38 p.m. based on his tweets. They argued that he did not yet know that former Vice President Mike Pence had been in a precarious position.
"The answer is no," Trump lawyer Michael Van Der Veen asserted on the Senate floor. "At no point was the president informed the vice president was in any danger." Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) were not satisfied with the explanation put forth by Trump's attorneys.
"It was like, 'Wait a minute that wasn't very responsive,'" Murkowski said. "I thought it was a better attempt a second time, but, yeah, I didn't really feel like it was responsive to our question."
Collins said, "I didn't real...
