Trump's lawyer repeatedly blamed House managers when asked about how his own client responded to the Capitol insurrection

• Trump's defense attorney blamed House managers when asked about Trump's Capitol riot response.
• Michael van der Veen accused them of conducting "absolutely no investigation" of Trump's actions.
• "The House failed to do even a minimum amount of due diligence," he said.

After former President Donald Trump's defense lawyers wrapped up their oral arguments in his impeachment trial Friday, US senators had a chance to ask a total of four hours of questions to both the defense and the nine House impeachment managers acting as prosecutors in the trial.

When some senators asked when and how much Trump knew of the Capitol siege as it was underway, the former president's lawyer Michael van der Veen repeatedly blamed House managers for not doing a thorough enough investigation to establish the facts of how his own client responded to the insurrection.

At one point in the questioning, Maine Sen. Susan Collins and Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski asked Trump's lawyers to answer when exactly Trump learned of the breach of the Capitol.

"What specific actions did he take to bring the rioting to an end, and when did he take them?" the senators asked. "Please be as detailed as possible." The question was particularly noteworthy given that Collins and Murkowski are two potential swing votes in the impeachment trial and may break from their party to vote for Trump's conviction.

Here's how van der Veen answered:

"The house managers have given us absolutely no evidence one way or the other onto that question," he said. Van der Veen added that the "timeline" goes back to December 31 and January 2 and interactions between law enforcement authorities, and "getting folks to have security beforehand in the day."

Van der Veen then accused the House managers of rushing to impeach Trump, saying, "There's been absolutely no investigation" into Trump's response.

"And that's the whole problem with this entire proceeding," he added. "House managers did zero investigation, and the American people deserve a lot better than coming in here with no evidence, hearsay on top of hearsay on top of reports that are of hearsay. Due process is required here. And that was denied."

The attorney did not say whether he'd spoken to Trump, who is his own client, about how he responded to the breach.

Here's how the House managers responded to the same question:

After getting the same question, House managers took a different route, with Del. Stacey Plaskett noting that lead manager Rep. Jamie Raskin previously asked why Trump didn't immediately tell his supporters to stop attacking the Capitol once the siege was underway.

"Why did President do nothing to stop the attack for two hours after the attack began? Why did President do nothing to help protect the Capitol and law enforcement battling the insurgents?" Plaskett said. "You saw the body cam of a Capitol Police officer at 4:29, still fighting ... since, what time, 1, 2 o'clock in the afternoon."

"Those are the questions we have as well, and the reason this question keeps coming up is because the answer is: nothing," Plaskett said.

Later, Collins and Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah - another potential swing vote - asked both sides whether Trump knew that then-Vice President Mike Pence had been evacuated from the Capitol for his own safety when he "sent a disparaging tweet" attacking Pence at 2:24 p.m. on the day of the siege.

Trump wrote in the tweet that Pence "didn't have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our country and our Constitution," adding, "USA deserves the truth."

Here's how the House managers replied to the question:

Rep. Joaquin Castro said Trump "had to know" when he sent that tweet that the "insurgents were already inside the building, and that they had weapons, and that the police were outnumbered." Castro said Trump had to have knowledge of the situation because it was being broadcast live on every cable news network and was being documented in real time on social media.

"As president, at that point, when you see all that going on and your people are imploring you to do something and your vice president is there, why wouldn't you do it?" Castro asked. "Donald Trump had not publicly condemned the attack, the attackers, or told them to stand down despite multiple pleas to do so. And Donald Trump hadn't even acknowledged the attack."

Castro also noted that GOP Sen. Tommy Tuberville called Trump on January 6 and told him shortly after 2 p.m. - before Trump sent the tweet attacking Pence - that the vice president had been evacuated. Tuberville confirmed that version of events to reporters.

Here's how Trump's lawyer responded:

Van der Veen said Trump did not know Pence had been evacuated when he sent the tweet. "At no point was the president informed the vice president was in any danger, because the House rushed through this impeachment in seven days. There is nothing at all in the record on this point," he said, "because the House failed to do even a minimum amount of due diligence."

He added that after the riot was underway, Trump "repeatedly called via tweet and via video for the rioters to stop, to be peaceful, to respect Capitol Police and law enforcement, and to commit no violence and go home."