WASHINGTON, D.C. (AP) — Washington state Republican congresswoman Jaime Herrera-Beutler was at the center of a debate Saturday in the Senate over whether former president Trump dismissed lawmakers’ pleas for help when his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
Her statement late Friday asserting that Trump rebuffed a request from House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy upended Trump’s Senate trial and sparked a fight about calling Herrera-Beutler as a witness.
That outcome was avoided by a last-minute bargain between Democratic prosecutors and Trump’s lawyers.
Donald Trump was acquitted Saturday, with seven Republican Senators voting to convict.