Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) said late Wednesday that he spoke with then-President Trump on Jan. 6 and told him that then-Vice President Pence was being evacuated as rioters descended on the Capitol.
“I said ‘Mr. President, they just took the vice president out, I’ve got to go,’” Tuberville said during a call with journalists, according to the Capitol Hill pool report.
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.
Trump, who has never addressed the danger to Pence, sent out a tweet around the time of his call with Tuberville saying the then-vice president did not have the “courage” to halt the certification of the Electoral College results. Rioters were heard on Capitol Hill chanting “hang Mike Pence” over his refusal to unilaterally subvert the election results.
Trump’s communications with senators were featured in the Wednesday arguments from the impeachment managers, who noted that Trump was trying to get in touch with Tuberville during Congress’s joint session to finalize the presidential election results. The Alabama senator was a vocal proponent of objecting to the Electoral College results.
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.
Trump’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Hill regarding the conversation.