USA TODAY International Edition
Sleeping, snacking: What you don’t get to see on TV
WASHINGTON – If you’ve turned on your television and caught any of President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial, you’ve probably gotten a chance to see arguments from House managers and the president’s defense team.
The official camera in the Senate has stayed locked on those speaking, leaving everything else happening in the chamber – and outside it – unseen by TV viewers.
Here’s some of what else you couldn’t see if you’ve watched the trial on TV.
Trading notes, whispers
A wide smile spread across South Carolina Republican Sen. Tim Scott’s face last Tuesday as he read the note passed to him by his deskmate, Sen. Ben Sasse, R- Neb. The two shared a quiet giggle as they passed messages back and forth, something that has become common at the all- day proceedings.
At the start of each day of the trial, senators are told they must remain quiet on “pain of imprisonment.” That hasn’t stopped many of them from communicating with one another over the hours sitting at their desks listening to presentations from House managers and the president’s lawyers.
Like Scott and Sasse, who enjoy the luxury of being far from the dais where Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts presides over the trial, other senators have passed notes and whispered back and forth.
Monday evening, Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D- Minn., and Bob Casey Jr., D- Pa., passed notes as Alan Dershowitz, a member of Trump’s counsel, laid out his interpretation of what the Founding Fathers identified as an impeachable offense. Klobuchar leaned over to Casey’s desk and the two smiled before looking back up at Dershowitz, who was still presenting.
The House managers also wrote notes and used legal pads to cover their mouths as they whispered to one another. Trump’s legal team did the same.
Crosswords, fidget spinners
Many of the 100 senators found it hard to sit in one place and refrain from talking or using electronics.
They fidgeted with their eyeglasses or rings. They even had fidget spinners, yes, those. Senators, including Tom Cotton, R- Ark.; Richard Burr, R- N. C.; and Pat Toomey, R- Pa., were spotted with the spinners during the trial.
Most senators took notes or read through documents handed out by pages, but Sen. Rand Paul, R- Ky., found other materials to keep himself occupied.
On Wednesday evening, Paul was filling out a crossword puzzle, surreptitiously putting it under a piece of paper on his desk. The next day, Paul sketched a doodle of the Capitol building, drawing it in his lap before putting it under a box of tissues on his desk.
Snoozing senators
Last week, as Rep. Val Demings, DFla., outlined the evidence leading House Democrats to charge the president with two articles of impeachment, Sen. Jim Risch, R- Idaho, slouched further back in his chair.
He cradled his head in hand as Demings argued that the chamber should subpoena the State Department for documents on Ukraine. A little more than four hours into the presentations, Risch shut his eyes and was the first spotted by USA TODAY to fall asleep.
As the trial moved forward, he was joined by colleagues on both sides of the aisle, including Sens. Bernie Sanders, IVt. and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R- Ky.
Many senators were spotted yawning or roaming around the Senate floor to stretch.
Snacking and the candy desk
Senate rules allow for senators to drink water and milk on the floor. They aren’t supposed to eat or talk.
But some members bent, or even broke, the rules.
Throughout the long days of presentations, many Republicans would discreetly make their way over to desk of Sen. Toomey, R- Pa., as it contained the only food in the chamber: a drawer full of candy.
His Republican colleagues could be seen moseying over to his desk and eventually walking away, chewing on something. Toomey was spotted enjoying a chocolate bar or two as the proceedings went on.
The drawer was so popular that more chocolate was needed – a lot more. Outside Toomey’s office on Friday sat a pallet of hundreds of Hersey chocolate bars – a Pennsylvania staple.
Shaking heads and laughing
Body language can say a lot, including senators’ reactions to pivotal moments.
Schiff stirred Republican criticism on Friday when he brought up a CBS report that a Trump confidante had told senators not to vote against him or “your head would be on a pike.”
That rankled key senators, including Susan Collins, R- Maine, and Lisa Murkowski, R- Alaska, both of whom have signaled they are on the fence about whether to join Democrats in calling for witnesses in the trial.
“That’s not true,” Collins could be heard responding from the Senate floor. She shook her head in disapproval. Cotton laughed, pulled out a fidget spinner and started twirling it.