One of the lawyers on former President Trump’s impeachment defense team grew frustrated after senators began laughing at him during Saturday remarks when the attorney mispronounced “Philadelphia.”
Michael van der Veen addressed the Senate after Democrats revived debate on whether to call witnesses for Trump’s impeachment trial, including virtually over Zoom.
Trump’s attorney said that sworn testimony from leaders such as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Vice President Harris should be done only in person.
“A lot of depositions need to be happening,” he said. “None of these depositions should be done by Zoom.”
He continued, “We didn’t do this hearing by Zoom. These depositions should be done in person, in my office, in Philadelphia,” pronouncing the city as “Philly-delphia.”
Senators then broke out into laughter, seemingly in reaction to the pronunciation, as van der Veen continued, “That’s where they should be done.”
The attorney then paused as senators continued to laugh before putting his arms up in frustration and saying, “I don’t know how many civil lawyers are here, but that’s the way it works, folks.”
“When you want somebody’s deposition, you send a notice of deposition, and they appear at the place where the notice says,” he continued.
“That’s civil process,” Trump’s attorney added as he threw his hands up in frustration. “I don’t know why you’re laughing. It is civil process. That is the way lawyers do it.”
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), who is presiding over the trial, then interrupted, saying, “I would remind everybody we will have order in the chamber during these proceedings.”
Van der Veen, after walking away from the podium, returned and told senators, “I haven’t laughed at any of you. And there’s nothing laughable here.”
The Senate then voted to allow for witnesses in the impeachment trial over Trump’s involvement in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, potentially extending the proceedings after senators were initially expected to deliver a final vote on conviction Saturday.
House Democrats prosecuting the case called for a single witness to testify: Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-Wash.), who has condemned Trump for his actions after the Capitol attack on Jan. 6.
Lead impeachment manager Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) said the deposition could happen remotely by Zoom and that Democrats would request “an hour or less” of her time.
The idea was rejected by van der Veen, who said he’d need more than 100 new witnesses to investigate the circumstances in question thoroughly and accused Democrats of interfering with Trump’s right to due process.