GOP senators call case against Trump ‘compelling’ after seeing new video of Capitol riot during impeachment trial

Just before the House managers wrapped up their first full day of arguments, the impeachment trial temporarily ground to a halt amid a dispute over proper parliamentary procedure.

After House manager Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, finished his remarks, Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah stood up and asked presiding Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., to strike from the record part of the prosecution's argument.

"Statements were attributed to me moments ago by the House impeachment managers, statements relating to the content of conversations between a phone call involving President Trump and [Alabama Sen. Tommy] Tuberville," Lee said.

Those statements "were not made by me, they're not accurate, and they're contrary to fact and I move ... that they be stricken from the record," Lee said.

Lee's objection immediately sparked confusion and bickering on the dais, with various senators talking over one another and multiple members gathering around the desk of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

A few minutes later, Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., the lead impeachment manager, defended the remarks in question, saying his colleague had "correctly and accurately" quoted a news report.

But Raskin said "we're going to withdraw it this evening ... and then we can debate it" if needed.

"This is much ado about nothing, because it's not critical in any way to our case," Raskin added.

After that, the trial adjourned until noon Thursday, with Schumer saying that the issue may be relitigated then "if we have to." — Kevin Breuninger

WASHINGTON – Congressman Joaquin Castro of Texas slammed former President Donald Trump's refusal to send help to the Capitol as police officers struggled with violent rioters.

"Senators, you've seen all the evidence so far, and this is clear, on January 6, President Trump left everyone in this Capitol for dead," Castro said.

Castro presented several of Trump's tweets in chronological order alongside footage of the Capitol attack in real-time.

"When the violence started, he never once said the one thing that everyone around him was begging him to say, stop the attack. He refused to stop it," Castro said.

"Please support our Capitol Police and Law Enforcement. They are truly on the side of our Country. Stay peaceful," the tweet sent by Trump at 2:38 pm on Jan. 6 read.

"Stay peaceful?" questioned Castro. "This was a violent armed attack. stay peaceful? How about stop the attack, stop the violence," Castro said.

"How about he actually support our law enforcement by telling these insurgents to leave the Capitol immediately? Which he never did," the representative said.

"He didn't because the truth is, he didn't want it to stop. He wanted them to stay and to stop the certification," Castro added.

– Amanda Macias

WASHINGTON — Senators reacted to dramatic new video footage presented by House impeachment managers as evidence in their case to convict former President Donald Trump.

Republican Sen. John Thune of South Dakota said the evidence presented thus far was "very effective" and "compelling."

"I've said all along I was going to listen to the arguments and look at the evidence, and I'm doing that," Thune told reporters. "I think they were very effective, and I'll see what kind of arguments the defense puts up. But, yeah, I'm gonna listen and draw conclusions when it's all done," Thune said.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, described the security footage as "disturbing" and "pretty damning."

"I'm angry. I'm disturbed. I'm sad," she told reporters, adding that she could not envision Trump holding the presidency again. The senator also said that she will watch the case his lawyers present.

Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, told MSNBC that while hiding from rioters in the Capitol he had to remind himself not to sit near a window.

"How sad that an elected public representative has to think about not sitting near a window," King said. "That really brought it home to me what a heartbreaking and dangerous situation this was."

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, told reporters that the presentation thus far was "riveting" and "compelling." — Amanda Macias

WASHINGTON — Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, told reporters he did not realize that he was walking toward a mob of rioters and said he was "very fortunate" that Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman warned him and directed him to safety.

"I was very fortunate indeed that Officer Goodman was there to get me into the right direction," Romney said, adding that he is looking forward to thanking him.

When asked how he felt about the new video evidence presented in the impeachment trial, Romney said it was "overwhelmingly distressing and emotional."

"It was very troubling to see the great violence that our Capitol Police and others were subjected to. It tears your heart and brings tears to your eyes," the senator said. — Amanda Macias

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he thought the House impeachment managers made a "gut-wrenching" and "overwhelmingly compelling" case for convicting former President Donald Trump.

"I hope that our Republican colleagues have an open mind," Schumer said.

Schumer's remarks to reporters came just after the Senate trial paused for a dinner break. Minutes earlier, House managers showed new footage of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, including a clip of Schumer and his protective detail running away from the mob.

"As for me and my situation, I just want to give tremendous credit to the Capitol Police officers who were in my detail," Schumer said. "They are utterly amazing and great and we love them." — Kevin Breuninger

New video shows that Capitol rioter Ashli Babbitt, who crawled through a smashed window leading to the House of Representatives, was shot and killed by a police officer seconds after a fellow mob member repeatedly warned that the cop had a gun.

Babbitt's death, and the circumstances around it, were shown on video footage as Rep. Eric Swalwell walked U.S. senators at former President Donald Trump's impeachment trial through that and other video that captured the violence committed by Trump's supporters on Jan. 6.

"He's got a gun!" one man yelled on video footage, which clearly showed a police officer's arm and hand holding a firearm pointed in the direction of a group of rioters. The group, including Babbitt, was gathered around the other side of the doorway leading into the Speaker's Lobby, close to the House chamber.

Babbitt, an Air Force veteran, California resident and believer in the bogus QAnon conspiracy theory, then began climbing through the window opening of the door.

A shot then rang out from the cop's gun, sending Babbitt backward into the mob, where she collapsed on the floor.

Her death is the only one that occurred as a result of a police officer shooting a member of the mob. Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick was fatally beaten by Babbitt's fellow Trump supporters that day, and three other members of the mob died from natural causes. — Dan Mangan

New footage of the Capitol during the Jan. 6 riot shows Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., sprint down a hallway to escape the mob that had broken into the building.

Schumer and his protective detail came within "just yards" of the swarm of rioters, House impeachment manager Rep. Eric Swalwell said as the security footage played during former President Donald Trump's impeachment trial.

The video shows Schumer, accompanied by security, walking up a ramp and out of view, before quickly turning around and running back through the hallway.

Schumer's security detail slams shut a pair of doors at the mouth of the hallway, using their bodies to hold them closed. — Kevin Breuninger

The Republican National Committee is fundraising off former President Donald Trump's impeachment trial.

The RNC sent out a mass text message at around 3 p.m. on Wednesday with a link to a fundraising page. The text message read "1,709 DONORS SHORT! Pres. Trump & the GOP are counting on YOU to hit our $1M goal so that we can END this PARTISAN IMPEACHMENT!"

The fundraising plea came as Democratic lawmakers made their case for Trump to be convicted, accusing him of inciting a deadly riot on Capitol Hill on Jan. 6.

The fundraising webpage says "STAND WITH US" in all capital letters. It then goes on to say that the impeachment effort is unconstitutional and called on donors to "contribute ANY AMOUNT IMMEDIATELY to stand with your Party against this IMPEACHMENT against President Trump."

Donors can give up to $2,900 to the RNC. The committee did not respond to CNBC's request for comment.

Democrats on Wednesday presented new video that brought to light extra details on what took place at the Capitol last month.

— Brian Schwartz

Dramatic, newly disclosed footage from the Capitol riot shows a rioter angrily demanding, "Where do they count the votes?" as he and other pro-Trump rioters were confronted by heroic Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman.

"Where they counting?" a member of the mob shouted at Goodman as he tried to prevent them from heading up to a floor near where then-Vice President Mike Pence and his family were hiding from the invaders of the complex.

The video was shown during the Senate impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump, who is accused of inciting the riot, which disrupted the counting of Electoral College ballots that showed Joe Biden had won the presidential election. Pence had been overseeing the opening of each state's ballots.

In footage never before seen by the public, internal security cameras at the Capitol showed invaders, including members of the racist Proud Boys group, pouring through windows that had been smashed and through a doorway, carrying a Confederate battle flag, a Trump flag and a baseball bat.

A rioter is seen on footage shouting at Goodman that the mob did not have weapons, which was a lie, in an apparent effort to keep the officer from using deadly force to prevent the horde from getting up a staircase.

Trump hours later praised the rioters, who killed another Capitol Police officer, Brian Sicknick, when he tweeted that they should go home in peace.

"These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away from great patriots who have been badly & unfairly treated for so long," tweeted Trump, who has falsely claimed he beat Biden in the election.

"We love you. You're very special," Trump said in a video statement directed at the rioters. — Dan Mangan

New video of the invasion of the Capitol shows police Officer Eugene Goodman rushing to steer Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, away from the mob that had just broken into the building.

Security footage inside the halls of the Capitol, presented during former President Donald Trump's impeachment trial, shows Goodman running toward the initial breach.

As he rushes past Romney, Goodman slows down and motions for the senator to turn around and get to safety away from the mob, the video shows.

On the floor below them, the mob "had already started to search for the Senate chamber," said House impeachment manager Stacey Plaskett as the security footage played.

Goodman had been celebrated as a hero after previously released footage showed him single-handedly drawing the rioters away from lawmakers.

Goodman was subsequently promoted to acting deputy House sergeant at arms. He escorted Vice President Kamala Harris at the inauguration of President Joe Biden. — Kevin Breuninger

Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-Pa., sought to head off one potential line of defense in her remarks from the Senate floor, which zeroed in on the text of Trump's Jan. 6 speech.

Supporters of the president have pointed to his call to supporters at the rally to "peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard."

Dean acknowledged that Trump said that his supporters should be peaceful. But she said the single remark, taken from a 70-m