‘Lindsey! Get Away from the Window!’ Jonathan Swan Reports on How Senators Sheltered in Place Amid Capitol Attack
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“Lindsey! Get away from the window!” someone shouted at Senator Lindsey Graham as a mob of Trump supporters overtook the Capitol building, as those in the building remained unaware of the magnitude of events that occurred on Jan. 6.
This is but one detail revealed by Jonathan Swan of what went down amongst U.S. Senators sheltering in a secure location as a mob ransacked the Senate chamber, in the final episode of his remarkable podcast detailing the events of Jan. 6, How it Happened.
After weeks of reporting and a stunning amount of evidence presented in former president Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial, it would seem odd to still be learning details from that fateful day, but here again, Swan parades his reporting excellence in great detail.
Take for example the news that now-former Deputy National Security Advisor Matthew Pottinger, upon learning that Trump had tweeted an attack on Vice President Mike Pence during the insurrection, immediately decided “he’s done,” according to Swan, and started packing up his office. According to Swan, Trump was at the same “winding up, not down” shortly after tweeting his invective at his vice president.
Back at the Capitol, senators and their staff reach what Swan describes as a “deserted Subway corridor,” underneath the Capitol building. Capitol Police aimed to disable elevators with random objects during their avail to keep rioters from reaching the elected officials. The senators and staff reach a large and unidentified hearing room surrounded by a perimeter of armed guards.
“It was way too crowded for Covid,” we hear Senator Amy Klobuchar reveal.
Michael Stenger, who has since resigned as Senate Sergeant at Arms, got up on a podium to address the assembled lawmakers and staff and was so overcome with emotion he had a hard time getting the words out.
Senator Graham reportedly freaks out at the Sergeant at Arms and yells, “this is ridiculous! You need to use every resource and every weapon to take back the Senate to get these thugs out of here.” Senator Tim Scott then asks the Senate Chaplain in attendance to lead the group in prayer, which he does.
Klobuchar then tells Swan what she had previously said on cable news is that, while unaware of the violence that was occurring at the time, she addressed her colleagues and said, “one thing I know for sure, is that we are not going to let these guys take over our chamber and take over our democracy,” imploring her fellow senators to return to the task at hand of certifying the election results.
“We are going to go back there, and we are going to go back there tonight,” Klobuchar said, adding there was a widespread and bipartisan sentiment in agreement with her exhortation.
The only connection these senators had to the outside world and the chaos unfolding nearby was the televisions and their phones, but as Swan reports, there was only one charging cable for the 90-plus senators assembled, which is said to have belonged to a staffer of Kelly Loeffler.
CNN’s Jake Tapper excoriating Senators Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz for their role in objecting to the Electoral College certification was apparently audible for all senators to hear, revealing that they chose CNN for their news on this fateful day.
All of the details above are just a sampling from the first half of the 30-minute podcast, further details will only be revealed to those who click through and listen on their own. No self-respecting news aggregator wants to reveal all the great details for fear of cheating Swan of all the clicks he and Axios richly deserve.
Listen to the full podcast here.
