What did he know, and when did he know it?

In the trial's question-and-answer session Friday, Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, asked whether Trump knew that Pence was being evacuated from the Capitol as the former president composed a tweet condemning Pence for not having the "courage" to stop then-President-elect Joe Biden's election victory.

"When President Trump sent the disparaging tweet at 2:24 p.m., was he aware that the vice president had been removed from the Senate by the Secret Service for his safety?" Romney asked.

[...]

Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., the lead impeachment manager, was first to respond to Romney's question. He noted the events of Jan. 6 were broadcast on live television and on the radio, saying Trump had to know that the rioters had already breached the building and were armed with weapons, and that the police were outnumbered.

[...]

Raskin also noted remarks by Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, who has told reporters that he spoke to Trump over the phone as the mob began ransacking the Capitol. During their brief conversation, Tuberville said he told the former president that Pence had been evacuated from the chamber moments earlier.

"Sen. Tuberville specifically said that he told the president, 'Mr. President, they just took the vice president out, I've got to go,' " Raskin said.

That conversation took place shortly after 2 p.m., Raskin noted.

Trump's lawyers on Friday pushed back on the impeachment managers' account.

"At no point was the president informed the vice president was in any danger," Michael van der Veen argued, adding that there is "nothing at all in record on this point." Van der Veen also accused the House impeachment managers of failing to do their due diligence on this issue.

"What the president did know is that there was a violent riot happening at the Capitol," van der Veen said. "That's why he repeatedly called via tweet and via video for the riots to stop, to be peaceful, to respect Capitol police and law enforcement and to commit no violence and go home."

  NPR

There are two lies there, and Van der Veen knows he's lying. One, Senator Tuberville has said numerous times that he told Trump Pence had been hustled out. Time to call him as a witness. Van der Veen denies it only because he understands the House managers will not call witnesses.

And, two, Trump "repeatedly" called for the riots to stop, only if you count twice as "repeatedly". But the greater point is that he only did so after four hours of violent insurgency, which he was watching religiously on TV, and with encouragement and praise for the insurgents.*

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., who says he is undecided on whether he'll vote to convict Trump, asked for more details regarding Tuberville's account of the call with Trump and his tweet railing against Pence.

"Does this show that President Trump was tolerant of the intimidation of Vice President Pence?" Cassidy asked.

But again, van der Veen disputed the sequence of events, calling discussion of Tuberville's call "hearsay."

"I have a problem with the facts in the question because I have no idea," van der Veen responded.

Cassidy told reporters later that he didn't think his question got a good answer.

Van der Veen has no idea only if he's had his eyes closed and ears plugged throughout the trial, and indeed since January 6.

Cassidy and Romney weren't the only ones trying to pry an answer out of Van der Veen. Collins and Murkowski went there first.

Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska asked Trump’s lawyers to lay out what Trump knew and when he knew it, adding that they should be as “detailed as possible.”

Trump attorney Michael van der Veen had no answer to that question other than to point a 2:38 p.m. tweet that day by Trump — and immediately pivoted to blame Democratic House impeachment managers for the lack of clarity on the question, suggesting that they had failed to uncover those details in their investigation.

  KRDO

Which was also in his response to the later question from Cassidy.

UPDATE:

UPDATE:

UPDATE: *Correction.  Around 2:30, at the urging of a group of people who were with him, Trump sent out a tweet that said:

“Please support our Capitol Police and Law Enforcement  [...] They are truly on the side of our Country. Stay peaceful!”

"Stay" peaceful. He already knew they weren't peaceful.  

So...three insincere and half-hearted attempts to stop the insurrection after intense pressure from those around him and Congressmen and women to stop the rioters.  And why would they think he could?  Because they knew he was controlling them.