In an expletive-laced phone call with House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy while the Capitol was under attack, then-President Donald Trump said the rioters cared more about the election results than McCarthy did.
"Well, Kevin, I guess these people are more upset about the election than you are," Trump said, according to lawmakers who were briefed on the call afterward by McCarthy.McCarthy insisted that the rioters were Trump's supporters and begged Trump to call them off.Trump's comment set off what Republican lawmakers familiar with the call described as a shouting match between the two men. A furious McCarthy told the then-President the rioters were breaking into his office through the windows, and asked Trump, "Who the f--k do you think you are talking to?" according to a Republican lawmaker familiar with the call.The newly revealed details of the call, described to CNN by multiple Republicans briefed on it, provide critical insight into the President's state of mind as rioters were overrunning the Capitol. The existence of the call and some of its details were first reported by Punchbowl News and discussed publicly by McCarthy.The Republican members of Congress said the exchange showed Trump had no intention of calling off the rioters even as lawmakers were pleading with him to intervene. Several said it amounted to a dereliction of his presidential duty."He is not a blameless observer, he was rooting for them," a Republican member of Congress said. "On January 13, Kevin McCarthy said on the floor of the House that the President bears responsibility and he does."
There is already evidence that Trump sent an inflammatory tweet attacking then- Vice President Pence for lacking "courage" to un- Constitutionally stop the vote certification, shortly after he was informed that Pence had been evacuated from the Senate chamber due to MAGA insurrectionists. On that matter, CNN reports:
A source close to Pence said Trump's legal team was not telling the truth when attorney Michael van der Veen said at the trial that "at no point" did the then-President know his vice president was in danger.Asked whether van der Veen was lying, the source said, "Yes." Former Pence aides are still fuming over Trump's actions on January 6, insisting he never checked on the vice president as Pence was being rushed from danger by his US Secret Service detail.
Rather than subpoena McCarthy, as some are begging Democratic impeachment managers to do, subpoena/depose the "Republican members of Congress" who witnessed the exchange and make them testify before the trial wraps up. You can be sure that weasel McCarthy would evade answering or wouldn't tell the truth, even under oath. The parties that leaked this information (clearly the Republican House members) need to testify to this exchange in order to prove Trump's intent to have the rioting insurrectionists stop the electoral college vote count. If for no other reason than bolstering the historical record of this shameful, dangerous episode, these witnesses must testify.
But, regardless of additional witnesses who may or may not be called, Senate Republicans will soon have a chance to excise this malicious cancer by convicting Trump and barring him from future office. Any guesses how many will put the Constitution/ country/ democracy before their own craven self- interests and do so?
BONUS: Here you go, hiding in plain view --
— Jaime Herrera Beutler (@HerreraBeutler) February 13, 2021
UPDATE: It's on:
On Saturday, House impeachment manager Jamie Raskin announced on the Senate floor that he will move to subpoena Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA) as a witness in the trial of former President Donald Trump.
Good. Let's get it all on the record.
UPDATE II: It's off -- no witnesses, just a statement for the record --
House managers backed down from their request to depose a House Republican who was told about an angry call that took place mid-insurrection between Donald Trump and House Minority Leader Kevin McCathy.
Instead, the Friday statement put out by the Republican, Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (WA), laying out what she heard about the call was entered into evidence, per a stipulation offered by Trump’s defense team.
Half a loaf, and all that.
