- Electronics are banned from Trump’s impeachment hearing.
- Some senators reportedly flouted this rule, and wore smart watches to the proceedings.
- Trump is facing two articles of impeachment alleging that he engaged in “high crimes and misdemeanors” to interfere with the 2020 election.
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As many as eight senators could be in violation of senate rules during President Trump’s impeachment trial, Roll Call reported.
According to decorum guidelines given to senators before the trial began, electronics are not allowed in the room at all. The rules read “No use of phones or electronic devices will be allowed in the Chamber. All electronics should be left in the Cloakroom in the storage provided.” The rules prohibit tools that senators would typically use to connect with the outside world and share information on social media, although it seems likely that Trump himself will be on Twitter.
Sen. John Cornyn, one of the senators who reportedly wore an Apple Watch during the trial, told The Hill last week “We will not have our electronic devices. I just saw a piece of cabinetry in the cloakroom where we will be required to turn over our iPads and our iPhones.”
Along with Cornyn, Roll Call reported that Sens. Mike Lee, John Thune, Jerry Moran, John Barrasso, Tim Scott, Michael Bennet, and Patty Murray were reportedly spotted with smart watches. They also published a photo showing an Apple Watch on Lee’s wrist. Sen. Mitch McConnell’s aide was also reportedly spotted wearing an Apple Watch. A representative for Sen. Bennet told Business Insider that the senator doesn’t own an Apple Watch, and wasn’t wearing a smart watch, and a representative for Sen. Barrasso told Business Insider that he was just wearing a square watch, and doesn’t own an Apple Watch. Representatives for the other senators did not immediately respond to request for comment.
Apple Watches and other smartwatches can perform many functions of a smartphone, like text, download apps, and make phone calls. Senators can even tweet from their watches.
The rules for the trial do not specify who will enforce them, or what possible repercussions there might be.