At the end of the second day of the indictment trial of former President Donald Trump, Republican Utah Senator Mike Lee asked for a statement attributed to him to beat some of the record because it is inaccurate. After some confusion, the House Accusation Managers agreed to do so.
The House Accusation Managers quoted a news report from Deseret News claims that Trump and his lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, accidentally called Lee on January 6, the day of Trump’s “Stop the Steal” march and the uprising at the Capitol that wanted to reverse the election.
The above news report said that Trump and Giuliani should name the first-year Republican Alabama senator Tommy Tuberville. Additional reports claim that the purpose of the calls was to encourage Tuberville to challenge the Senate’s certification of then-elected President Joe Biden’s election victory, which Congress convened to certify.
However, Lee objected to the statements attributed to him and demanded that it be removed from the record.
“Statements have been repeatedly attributed to me about which I have personal knowledge because I am the source. That is not true. I never made the statements. I ask that it be made,” he said.
Andrew Harnik – Pool / Getty
The news article in question claims that Lee was finishing a prayer with some of his colleagues in the Senate when Trump rang. The article then states that Lee walked with his cellphone to Tuberville, who was with him in the Senate chamber, and that Tuberville spoke to Trump for five to ten minutes before police ordered the Senate to be evacuated because rioters were the security violated.
When Lee later questioned Tuberville about the call, the article reported, Tuberville apparently said that Trump apparently did not realize that the Capitol had been attacked.
Earlier in the trial, Rhode Island Democratic Representative David Cicciline quoted the story of Lee’s experience. Lee, however, quickly objected, but was dominated by Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, who presided over the trial. In response, Lee quickly appealed, and Democratic Senate Leader Chuck Schumer of New York wanted to clarify Leahy’s ruling.
After some confusion, Chief Prosecutor Jamie Raskin, representative of Democratic Maryland, agreed to discontinue the remarks from the record, saying: ‘The indictment manager, Mr. Cicciline, quoted a newspaper article correctly and accurately against which the leading senator objected on the ground that it was not true. ‘
“We’re going to withdraw it tonight,” Raskin added.
Newsweek Lee’s office contacted for comment.