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Live updates: Senate votes to call witnesses in Trump impeachment trial

13 February 2021
Dan Ackermann

In a surprise move, the Senate voted 55-45 Saturday morning to call at least one witness in the second impeachment trial of former President Trump before recessing until 12:30 p.m. ET.

The big picture: The Senate was expected to wrap up the trial and cast a final vote by the end of the day. But lead House impeachment manager, Rep. Jamie Raskin, announced Saturday morning that his team was seeking testimony from GOP Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler to talk about her knowledge of a conversation between House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Trump during the Capitol attack on Jan. 6.

  • Raskin said the managers would also like to subpoena Beutler for her notes.
  • Beutler was one of 10 House Republicans to vote to impeach Trump.

Driving the news: All Democrats and five Republicans voted in favor of seeking witness testimony.

  • The five GOP Senators include: Susan Collins (Maine), Ben Sasse (Nebraska), Mitt Romney (Utah), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Lindsey Graham voted in favor of seeking witness testimony.
  • Trump’s defense team threatened this morning to subpoena House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and a series of other witnesses. Other Republicans also said they'd drag out the trial if the House managers decided to subpoena witnesses.

This is a breaking story. Check back for live updates.

Of note: Shortly before reconvening for the trial on Saturday morning, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) wrote in an email to his GOP colleagues that he will vote to acquit Trump.

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.