Trey Gowdy: Trump’s Lawyers Need a ‘Factual Defense’ for His Actions During Riot and ‘I Didn’t Hear One Yesterday’

Trey Gowdy said on Fox News Wednesday that Donald Trump’s team needs a specific “factual defense” for his actions after the riots began on January 6th.

Gowdy started the segment telling Martha MacCallum the Trump team “whiffed it yesterday,” referencing the much-derided performance of defense lawyer Bruce Castor.

More specifically, he said there was one notable omission from the Trump team’s presentation.

Gowdy noted the argument that Democrats have engaged in overheated rhetoric in the past, but said beyond Trump’s words, there’s a question of his specific actions the day of the riots:

“The president’s lawyers need to come up with a factual defense for what was he doing once he learned the siege began. You can act like you were shocked it happened. But once it happened, you can’t claim that defense anymore. So why the tweets afterward, why not get more involved, more engaged. And I need to hear a factual defense, and I didn’t hear one yesterday.”

There were reports in the days after the riots that Trump was initially encouraged watching his supporters storming the Capitol, something Republican Senator Ben Sasse also publicly stated.

The Washington Post reported on January 11th that “as senators and House members trapped inside the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday begged for immediate help during the siege, they struggled to get through to the president, who — safely ensconced in the West Wing — was too busy watching fiery TV images of the crisis unfolding around them to act or even bother to hear their pleas.”

You can watch above, via Fox News.

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