BY: LIBBY CATHEY, ABC NEWS
(WASHINGTON) — Lead House impeachment manager Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., on Saturday called to subpoena Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Wash., in the impeachment trial, after Herrera Beutler tweeted out a statement Friday reiterating comments she made about a talk she had with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy regarding former President Donald Trump‘s involvement in the Capitol siege.
In the statement, Herrera Beutler reiterated her claims — which she made earlier to Washington newspaper The Daily News — that McCarthy spoke to Trump as rioters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, but Trump refused to stop them.
“For that reason, and because this is the proper time to do so under the resolution that the Senate adopted to set the rules for the trial,” Raskin said, “we would like the opportunity to subpoena Congresswoman Herrera regarding her communications with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, and to subpoena her contemporaneous notes that she made, regarding what President Trump told Kevin McCarthy in the middle of the insurrection.
Herrera Beutler ended her statement Friday by challenging those with firsthand knowledge of Trump’s actions during the Capitol siege — including former Vice President Mike Pence — to come forward.
“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,” she wrote.
Trump’s defense team slammed the notion, but the Senate Saturday morning voted 55-45 to call witnesses.
ABC News’ Emily Shapiro contributed to this report.
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