Trump called senators during riots in Capitol to sabotage Biden's profits

While his supporters engaged in deadly riots in the Capitol, President Donald Trump had other concerns. He called a Republican senator in the beleaguered Congress building in an ultimate attempt to sabotage the election victory of the incoming President Joe Biden.

His only concern was the meeting of the US Congress, where the votes of the electoral college would be counted to confirm Joe Biden's victory in the presidential election.

Wrong number
Both Trump and his attorney Rudy Giuliani attempted to sabotage that procedure by telephone. But they accidentally called the wrong senator in the building. Trump called on Republican Senator Mike Lee's cell phone, but the call was actually for Senator Tommy Tuberville.

The senators had then been evacuated from the conference room and taken to safety elsewhere. Lee passed his phone over to Tuberville.

In the conversation, which lasted less than ten minutes, Trump tried to convince the brand-new Alabama senator to make additional objections to the election results. It was an ultimate attempt to block the proceedings in Congress, The conversation was cut short as the senators were taken to a safe place.

Voicemail
The second call to Lee came in hours later. It belonged to Trump's attorney Rudy Giuliani. He, too, assumed that he was calling Tuberville. When there was no answer, Giuliani left a voicemail message.

The message was the same as the message received by another Republican senator, a spokesman for Senator Lee confirms. A transcript of that conversation has been leaked.

"I'm calling you because I want to discuss with you how they are trying to speed up this hearing and how we need you, our Republican friends, to try to slow it down," Giuliani said.

"I know they will meet again at 8pm tonight, but the only strategy we can pursue is to object to countless states and raise issues."


Trump and Giuliani saw an ally in Tuberville because he was part of a group of six Republican senators who objected - unsuccessfully - to the election results in the state of Arizona. Even after Congress reconvened that night, he still urged the senators to persevere in their resistance.