US Senators flout Trump trial norms by wearing Apple Watch

Washington, Jan 22 (IANS) At least seven US Senators flouted the norms when they attended US President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial wearing Apple Watch, breaking the Chamber’s ban on electronics during the proceedings.

Spotted by Roll Call, the Republican Senators came to the proceedings wearing Apple Watches, despite guidelines from Senate leadership that all electronics should be left in the cloakroom in the provided storage.

Republican Senators Mike Lee of Utah; John Thune of South Dakota; Jerry Moran of Kansas; James Lankford of Oklahoma; John Cornyn of Texas and Tim Scott of South Carolina wore Apple Watches.

“Also spotted with the smartwatch was an aide to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell,” the report mentioned.

Under the rules of decorum, Senators are not allowed to use phones or other communications devices during an impeachment trial.

“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,” read the rules.

Apple Watch is capable of external communication, effectively making it a banned device for the trial proceedings.

“Senators on the floor are sworn to silence and have no electronic devices. So how is this Senator tweeting? Did he sneak a phone in. Is he willing to go to prison? Or is the tweet from someone other than Cruz. @jack you should investigate,” tweeted senior CNN political analyst Joe Lockhart.

Senator Cruz was accused of tweeting during the proceedings. A spokesperson for the Senator, however, said later that he didn’t bring his phone onto the Senate floor.

Taking photos, videos, or audio recordings has been banned in the House of Representatives since 2017, reports The Verge.