New security footage of the Capitol assault presented Wednesday by House impeachment managers showed Officer Eugene Goodman directing Senator Mitt Romney to turn to safety on January 6. Romney appeared to be heading in the direction of the rioters when Goodman steered him away.
The footage was played Wednesday at former President Trump’s impeachment trial. The House impeachment managers presented the new footage in their opening arguments against Mr. Trump, who was impeached by the House on a charge of incitement of insurrection of the riot at the Capitol on January 6.
The footage showed just how close the Utah Republican came to clashing with the angry mob, something that likely could have happened if Goodman hadn’t intervened. Goodman tried to hold off the mob and distracted them away from the Senate chamber.
“Officer Goodman passes Senator Mitt Romney, and directs him to turn around in order to get to safety,” House impeachment manager Stacey Plaskett said, describing the silent security footage as she played it.
Goodman led many of the rioters away from the Senate chamber, buying critical time for lawmakers to get to safety. Goodman also bought time for Vice President Mike Pence and his family to escape to a secure location, only moments before rioters might have seen the vice president.
That was just one of the never-before-seen pieces of footage House impeachment managers showed on Wednesday.
Only one camera angle is allowed during the Senate trial, meaning viewers don’t have the opportunity to view senators’ reactions. But the pool reporter inside the chamber at the time said Romney was watching the footage carefully as it showed Goodman potentially saving his life. Most of the senators were also glued to the footage, pool reporters said.
During the dinner break, Romney told reporters that it was “troubling” to see the footage. He also said he didn’t know he was that close to the mob and he didn’t know it was Goodman who had steered him to safety.
“I look forward to thanking him when I next see him,” Romney said. “That I was very fortunate indeed that Officer Goodman was there to get me in the right direction.”
House impeachment manager Eric Swalwell reminded senators that they were just “58 steps away” from where the mob was amassing when they were evacuated from the chamber at 2:30 p.m. The mob reached the Senate gallery at 2:45 p.m.
— CBS News’ Grace Segers contributed to this report.
