8:15 p.m. ET, February 12, 2021
How key GOP senators are reacting to today's proceedings
From CNN's Manu Raju, Ryan Nobles, Daniella Diaz, Ted Barrett and Annie Grayer
Sen. Bill Cassidy walks on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, February 12.
Susan Walsh/AP
Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy said “not really” when asked if he was satisfied with the defense team's response to his question during the Senate impeachment trial of former President Trump.
Cassidy, who joined
five other Republican senators in voting that Trump's impeachment trial was constitutional, asked about Trump attacking Pence on Twitter and whether the President knew his vice president was in danger.
Cassidy added that he is undecided on how he will vote.
Sen. John Thune, a Republican from South Dakota, said he thinks Trump’s legal team did better today.
"It was a much better performance than the first day, that the President's counsel had a chance to make arguments and I thought they put it themselves pretty well today. I don't know, at this point, how many minds get changed," he said in response to a question from CNN.
Thune did not appear to answer if his mind was made up.
Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican from Maine, said she didn't feel she got a response from Trump's legal team when she and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a Republican from Alaska, asked Trump's legal team to describe when he had learned of the riots and the actions he had taken.
They asked the lawyers to be as specific as possible, but Trump lawyer Michael van der Veen only said that Trump tweeted at 2:38 p.m. before launching into an attack against the House Democrats for lack of due process.
“I didn't really feel that I got a response but I'm not sure if that was the fault of the counsel. One of the problems is that that with the House not having held hearings to establish exactly what happened when, it's difficult to answer a question like that. I was hoping that one side or the other, would have, because I think it's a very important question of when did the President, know that the barricades were breached. And what did he do at what time to stop the rioting. And so, I wish I'd gotten answers today to that,” Collins told CNN.
Collins and Murkowski are still considered to be among the Republicans who are open to convicting the former President. Like Cassidy, they also voted earlier this week that Trump's impeachment trial was constitutional.
Sen. Marco Rubio, a Republican from Florida, said he still plans to vote to acquit because he remains concerned about the constitutional questions related to the process. Rubio said the legal arguments made by the Trump team were not important because the dangerous precedent convicting a former President could present.
Sen. Tommy Tuberville, meanwhile, told CNN's Manu Raju he stands by his account that he told Trump that Mike Pence had been evacuated from the Senate.
“He said a few things I said: ‘Mr. President, they've taken the vice president out. They want me to get off the phone, I gotta go," he said.
What we know: A final vote on Trump's conviction or acquittal is expected to happen tomorrow at 3 p.m. ET. This is not locked in yet and can change, but that's the expectation at the moment.
Conviction requires two-thirds of senators present to offer "guilty" votes. Normally, two-thirds is 67 senators, which would require 17 Republican votes.