On the recordFebruary 12, 2021
Mr. President, I send a question to the desk. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Louisiana, Mr. Cassidy, has a question for both counsel for the former President and counsel for the House. The clerk will read it, and counsel for the former President will go first, for 2\1/2\ minutes, and then the House of Representatives will have 2\1/2\ minutes. The legislative clerk read as follows: Senator Tuberville reports that he spoke to President Trump at 2:15 p.m. He told the President that the Vice President had just evacuated. I presume it was understood at this time that rioters had entered the Capitol and threatened the safety of Senators and the Vice President. Even after hearing of this, at 2:24 p.m. President Trump tweeted that Mike Pence ``lacked courage,'' and he did not call for law enforcement backup until then. This tweet and lack of response suggests President Trump did not care that Vice President Pence was endangered, or that law enforcement was overwhelmed. Does this show that President Trump was tolerant of the intimidation of Vice President Pence? The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Counsel has 2\1/2\ minutes. Mr. Counsel VAN DER VEEN. Directly, no. But I dispute the premise of your facts. I dispute the facts that are laid out in that question and, unfortunately, we are not going to know the answer to the facts in this proceeding because the House did nothing to investigate what went on. We are trying to get hearsay from Mr. Tuberville. There was hearsay from Mr.…





