Senate Republicans Shocked But Mostly Unswayed By New Capitol Riot Footage

Plus: Georgia Sen. Warnock Under Investigation For Voter Registration Misconduct

TOPLINE

Senate Republicans expressed a range of reactions to previously unreleased footage of the Jan. 6 Capitol attack played during former President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial on Wednesday – from horror and disgust to nonplussed – but few signaled that it made an impact on how they would vote.

KEY FACTS

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) told reporters the videos were “very compelling” but repeatedly focused on the individual rioters rather than Trump while accusing fellow lawmakers of “placing tinder in that tinderbox" by inciting violence at protests against police violence last summer.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), a staunch Trump ally, said the footage is “horrific” and called the impeachment managers’ presentation “powerful and emotional,” but argued there was “very little said about how specific conduct of the president satisfies the legal standard.”

Senate GOP No. 4 Roy Blunt, asked if the footage might change his mind, replied: "I don't know what the other side will show from Seattle and Portland and other places, but you're going to see similar kinds of tragedies there as well.”

Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.), a Trump ally, said footage of the Jan. 6 attack is always “riveting” but didn’t change his mind because he’d “seen most of it” — in fact, much of Wednesday’s videos were previously unreleased – adding, “I don't know that that's going to make a difference for any one senator, just having it on a loop again.”

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) stood firm with his previous arguments against the constitutionality of the trial, arguing that impeachment “should be to remove people from office,” arguing it’s up to the voters to decide whether Trump should be elected again.

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