Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) revealed details on Wednesday night about his phone call with Donald Trump amid the US Capitol insurrection alerting the former president about the evacuation of Vice President Mike Pence.
According to the Capitol Hill pool report, Tuberville told Trump: “I said ‘Mr. President, they just took the vice president out, I’ve got to go.”
The Hill reports: “It had previously been known that Tuberville and Trump spoke, though the details of the conversation are new. The fact that the Alabama senator told the president that Pence was in danger is a potentially useful nugget for the Democrats’ impeachment managers, who are trying to convince Senate Republicans that Trump egged on the mob and then did nothing to quell the violence once it erupted. … According to the impeachment managers, the call with Tuberville took place just after 2 p.m., which was shortly before Pence’s evacuation. Trump sent out his tweet attacking his vice president at 2:24 p.m. The entire Senate chamber was evacuated shortly after that, and rioters ultimately took control of the area before law enforcement finally dispersed the mob.”
Politico adds: “It’s long been unclear precisely when Trump learned of the danger that Congress and his vice president faced — though it was broadcast all over live television — but Tuberville’s claim would mark a specific moment Trump was notified that Pence had to be evacuated for his own safety.”
On Wednesday, House impeachment managers showed new footage of Pence and his family being evacuated from the Senate chamber.
