Among those surprised was Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), whose staff had been informed of the decision at 9:55 a.m. — just five minutes before the Senate was to begin its business.
On a 9 a.m. call with Democratic senators, Schumer stuck to his long-standing position that he — and by extension, the rest of the Democratic caucus — would back the managers on whatever they would decide. But several Democrats on the call said they were left with the impression that there would be no witnesses.
In fact, the managers had debated into the early hours of Saturday morning over whether to call witnesses, in particular Herrera Beutler or House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), the Democrat said, and the debate had yet to be resolved.
The Democrat familiar with the discussions spoke on the condition of anonymity to candidly describe internal discussions. A spokesman for the managers did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
A person close to the managers who was not authorized to comment publicly and thus spoke on the condition of anonymity did not dispute that Senate Democrats learned of the final decision only minutes in advance. But the person said Schumer’s staff had been briefed Friday night on the possibility that witnesses might be called.
McCarthy’s heated conversations with President Donald Trump as rioters sacked the Capitol on Jan. 6 were placed back in the public eye through a CNN report late Friday that quoted Trump as saying to McCarthy, “Well, Kevin, I guess these people are more upset about the election than you are” — a comment that supported the managers’ case that Trump did not quickly act to stop the riot.
Herrera Beutler confirmed in a Friday-night statement that she had heard about the comment from McCarthy, adding an admonition to those who had firsthand knowledge of Trump’s actions that day: “To the patriots who were standing next to the former president as these conversations were happening, or even to the former vice president: If you have something to add here, now would be the time.”
Meanwhile, Democrats were beginning openly to question the expectation that the trial should conclude without witnesses. About an hour after Herrera Beutler released her statement, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) said the new quote contradicted Trump’s lawyers, who claimed that the former president acted swiftly during the riot to address the violence at the Capitol.
“One way to clear it up,” Whitehouse said in a tweet, was to suspend the trial, depose key witnesses and secure records from the White House to answer the key question: “What did Trump know, and when did he know it?”
By Saturday morning, multiple other liberal Democrats had joined his call, including Sens. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.).
After the Senate restarted the trial Saturday morning, Raskin moved to summon Herrera Beutler, suggesting that she might be deposed in a brief Zoom interview. Trump’s lawyer Michael T. van der Veen quickly objected, threatening to call “hundreds” of defense witnesses.
All 50 members of the Senate Democratic caucus and four Republicans voted to back the managers and potentially extend the trial. The vote raised the prospect of multiple depositions, court challenges and messy negotiations with Republicans — all of which not only would extend the trial but was likely to halt the Senate’s other business.
The Democrat familiar with the internal discussions said “it was clear the managers had no plan” and “didn’t know what their next step was.”
Less than two hours later, the managers cut a deal with Trump’s lawyers — introducing Herrera Beutler’s written statement into the trial record — and they did not move to call further witnesses, putting the Senate on track to acquit Trump on Saturday afternoon.
