CBS reporter vibe check AKA, are the gop senators acting right?

[irisblue]

Grace Segers (@Grace_Segers) Tweeted:
Your Senate impeachment trial ~vibe check~, day 3:
The mood is like that of a college lecture. Senators sit (mostly) silently while listening to Nadler, aided by clips of scholars testifying in December, discuss the constitutional basis for the abuse of power impeachment article.

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Grace Segers (@Grace_Segers) Tweeted:
Senators have fallen into a familiar rhythm on the third day. Extending our college metaphor, we have students who take frequent notes, such as Collins, Romney, Portman, Loeffler, and Lankford. Some chat in the back of class, like Tim Scott and Sasse & Risch and Crapo. 2/

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Grace Segers (@Grace_Segers) Tweeted:
Cotton often seems disdainful of the proceedings. He has a fidget spinner on his desk, and frequently leans over to say something and laugh with Ernst, who again has a blanket on her legs. I didn't see Rand Paul take notes, but he did doodle what appeared to be the Capitol. 3/

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Grace Segers (@Grace_Segers) Tweeted:
I focused on Republicans for my first ~vibe check~ because, frankly, they're in the majority. 4/

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[dewsgirl]

1. I really like this kind of stuff.

[backtoblue]

2. This is not satire, right?

Good. They need to be paying attention.

[irisblue]

3. Updates-I'll skip her tweets that are not about the Senators

Grace Segers (@Grace_Segers) Tweeted:
I'll also note that while there seems to be varying levels of attention among the Republican senators, Lindsey Graham, who is among Trump's staunchest supporters, is very attentive. 6/6 (for now)

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Grace Segers (@Grace_Segers) Tweeted:
Schumer frequently slouches and lean on his arm, he frequently crosses and uncrosses his legs. He smiles regularly, often in seeming approval of what the impeachment managers are saying. He also flips through the packet of printed slides as the slideshow progresses. 7/

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Grace Segers (@Grace_Segers) Tweeted:
If Schumer is unusually animated, McConnell looks like a wax figure of himself at Madame Tussauds. A favorite seating position seems to be leaning back with his legs stretched forward in front of him, with his hands linked and his chin resting on his steepled index fingers. 8/

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Grace Segers (@Grace_Segers) Tweeted:
Graham was gone for nearly half an hour. I tried to look through the windowed doors into the Senate cloakroom to see if I could see what senators were doing. At one point, when an aide opened the door, I glimpsed Graham sitting at a desk in front of a phone. 10/

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Grace Segers (@Grace_Segers) Tweeted:
I also saw someone in the cloakroom who I believe to be Graham speaking animatedly to an unseen person. I'm not sure what senators are doing when they're gone for extended periods of time, but it seems it may involve chatting with each other and aides. 11/11 (for now)

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[DarthDem]

4. Fanatstic Stuff

Thanks for sharing.

[Mersky]

5. Good to know. Thanks for posting!

[NoMoreRepugs]

6. This we private cloakroom conversations would be priceless.

We should start a “fill in the quote” thread amongst the Rethug senators.

[irisblue]

7. Update#3- there are other reporters watching the Senate, I'm following this for simplicity 4:40 pm

Grace Segers (@Grace_Segers) Tweeted:
The ~vibe check~ resumes!
When I sat down at 3:50 p.m., all 100 senators were seated. A few of them came in and out while I was there, but no one left for more than a few minutes. Nadler, who has often ghosted the proceedings, was not there during my half hour rotation. 13/

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Grace Segers (@Grace_Segers) Tweeted:
I conducted a "yawn watch" of all senators who yawn widely and visibly; I noticed Klobuchar, Graham (three yawns), Schatz, Sanders (two yawns), and Duckworth. 14/

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[irisblue]

8. 5:45 pm update #4

Grace Segers (@Grace_Segers) Tweeted:
Although he is not the only senator with a fidget spinner on his desk, Cotton appears to be the only one using his. He took it off his desk and began playing with it. At one point, Ernst gave him a look while he was fidget-spinning, and the two laughed. They chatted briefly. 15/

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Grace Segers (@Grace_Segers) Tweeted:
A few stray observations: at one point, Moran untied and retied his shoe. When he's not wearing his reading glasses, Kaine perches them on his forehead above his eyebrows, making it look like he's wearing a headband. Sinema is sporting some fabulous knee-high maroon boots. 17/

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[irisblue]

9. Update#5, 7pm eastern US

***Change up, these 2 reporters working together on this***



1st reporter--@ktullymcmanus, of Roll call




During the break, Sen. Susan Collins said loudly to Sens Murkowski, Thune & Tillis that she would like the first row of the press gallery to be kept empty and that reporters should only be seated from the second row back, motioning to the sparse remaining press (myself included)
Collins made a motion that looked like she was leaning over, mimicking a hypothetical reporter leaning over the gallery balcony, a prohibited act that has been strictly enforced during the trial.
Collins sometimes speaks so softly that it is hard to hear her even when she is up close, but she made this comment loudly enough that it was heard by me from one story up (over the chatter of reporters around me and senators talking on the floor)



Back to @Grace_Segers


Grace Segers (@Grace_Segers) Tweeted:
I was there, and saw Collins and Murkowski stare at us and physically point at us. It seemed pretty hostile. https://t.co/RJgzE9DOeR

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SoCollins & Murkowski ripping off masks?

[Takket]

10. this behavior is deplorable

All of us out here in the real world are expected to take time out of our busy lives for jury duty. we are expected to sit there no matter how boring or terrible the crime, pay attention, and render an impartial verdict. yet our own lawmakers, the GOP ones anyway, are behaving like spoiled brats. Any of us that did these things in a jury box would be held in contempt or dismissed.

laws are only for the "little people"

[irisblue]

11. Update#6,9pm

Grace Segers (@Grace_Segers) Tweeted:
@ktullymcmanus The ~vibe check~ returns!
Feinstein looks like she's asleep at first glance. I did a double take looking at her a few times to make sure she was still taking notes, and had not fallen asleep with her chin on her lap. 28/

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Grace Segers (@Grace_Segers) Tweeted:
Interestingly, McConnell was looking at a binder in his lap as Garcia spoke. As we've previously noted, McConnell generally stares straight ahead during the impeachment managers' argument. McConnell's focus was on the binder for about 20 of the 30 minutes I was in there. 29/

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Grace Segers (@Grace_Segers) Tweeted:
I'm pretty sure Tim Scott has sunflower seeds in his desk. He's sharing them with Portman and Sasse on either side of him. I'm assuming it's sunflower seeds because he's taking something out of his mouth occasionally as he chews, which presumably is the shell. 30/

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Grace Segers (@Grace_Segers) Tweeted:
Burr laid back in his chair for a while, holding his fidget spinner between his thumb and middle finger of his left hand. He would flick it with his index finger and watch as it spun, & flick again when it slowed down. After a few minutes, he put the spinner back on his desk. 31/

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Grace Segers (@Grace_Segers) Tweeted:
Sanders' cold is apparently persisting. He blew his nose and coughed, and at one point stuck his finger in his left ear. Sanders often sits with what I think of as "prayer hands" - his palms pressed together and held in front of his mouth as if in supplication. 32/32 (for now)

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[irisblue]

12. Update #7, 10pm

Grace Segers (@Grace_Segers) Tweeted:
Bizarrely, Senator Thom Tillis has been spotted in the visitors gallery. He's not responding to any of the surreptitious and obvious looks reporters are giving him. 33/

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Grace Segers (@Grace_Segers) Tweeted:
@addysbaird Over 20 senators were out of the room when the Senate reconvened after a short recess. Several were standing as well, including Sanders. Gillibrand chatted with him briefly, and reached out and straightened his lapels before she traveled over to Harris' desk to chat with her. 35/

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Grace Segers (@Grace_Segers) Tweeted:
@addysbaird Sanders appears to be struggling a bit. At one point, he took his glasses off & pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes for a few seconds. At another point, he took about five deep breaths, puffing out his cheeks as he exhaled. And, of course, he's still blowing his nose.

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Grace Segers (@Grace_Segers) Tweeted:
More on Tillis: He was not sitting with tourists, but in a mostly empty section reserved for congressional staff and family on the lefthand side. He looked at the proceedings with interest. 36/

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[irisblue]

13. Sounds like less wandering if the senators. Nite y'all