A Republican lawmaker was reportedly caught nodding during Tuesday evening’s marathon Caught Snoozing? Impeachment Sketch Artist Shows Sen. Jim Risch Zonked Out During Trialimpeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump.
Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho) had his eyes closed and head slumped into the palm of his hand at about 5:30 p.m.
Independent cameras were not allowed in the Senate during the proceedings. With the only cameras in the chamber controlled by Senate staffers, the scene was only captured on video or via still photograph. But a New York Times sketch artist in the chamber preserved the moment for posterity:
Sketch artist Art Lien wrote that the senator was “catching a few winks.”
The Washington Post said Risch, who is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, had “clearly fallen asleep” for about 15 minutes. NBC News reported that he appeared to be “jolted awake” when Trump attorney Jay Sekulow took the stand and began speaking louder than the speaker before him.
A spokesperson for Risch told The Wall Street Journal that the senator was just listening closely, which he does “with his eyes closed or cast down.”
By the end of the night, trying to keep awake seemed to have become a bipartisan effort:
