Trump called Mike Lee 2 minutes after he attacked Mike Pence for lacking 'courage' amid Capitol riots: Records
Former President Donald Trump reportedly phoned Senator Mike Lee two minutes after he slammed former Vice President Mike Pence on Twitter on January 6. According to new evidence disclosed by House impeachment managers, Pence had just been escorted out of the Senate chamber amid the Capitol siege on January 6 when the call was made.
As the Senate trial on Trump's impeachment drew closer to a conclusion on Saturday, February 13, Lee (R-Utah) shared his call log with impeachment managers and Trump's defense, according to a Politico report.
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According to the call records, a White House call reached Lee's phone at 2.26 pm on January 6 — two minutes after Trump attacked Pence on Twitter for lacking "courage" as the former VP certified Joe Biden's Electoral College victory.
"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. USA demands the truth!" Trump tweeted at the time.
According to Politico, the former president's call was intended for Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) to encourage him to "throw up more procedural roadblocks" in the certification of the 2020 election results.
The outlet noted that Lee passed the phone to Tuberville for a brief call before both were escorted out of the Senate chamber to safety. During their conversation, Tuberville reportedly informed Trump that Pence had been evacuated from the chamber just moments earlier. According to Trump's trial defense team, he was unaware that Pence was in danger when he tweeted the attack.
Earlier in the week, Tuberville's initial disclosure of the call to Politico "raised the possibility" that it took place before Trump slammed Pence on Twitter. However, the outlet has now clarified that Trump's tweet came just prior to the discussion, according to the new timeline. Nonetheless, Politico speculated whether Trump was aware of Pence's exit via other sources like the television or the White House Secret Service.
On January 11, it emerged that Trump and Pence had spoken for the first time since the January 6 riots, which ended with a death toll of five people, including a DC police officer.
The former President has spent the last few weeks cut off from his supporters as Facebook and Twitter took to suspending his accounts on both their platforms, with the tech companies ramping up censorship in recent days. Trump had repeatedly and publicly demanded that Pence overturn electors certified by swing states, citing election fraud concerns. However, Pence declared in a letter to Congress that he did not believe he had the Constitutional authority to do so.
According to CNN, Pence and Trump had a "good conversation" on January 11. The pair reflected "on the last four years of the administration's work and accomplishments."
The source, a senior administration official, was also quoted as saying, "They reiterated that those who broke the law and stormed the Capitol last week do not represent the America First movement backed by 75 million Americans, and pledged to continue the work on behalf of the country for the remainder of their term."