'A poignant moment': Trump lawyer hits Nancy Pelosi for impeachment signing ceremony from Senate floor during trial

During the Senate's ongoing impeachment trial of President Donald Trump on Monday, Trump attorney Jay Sekulow criticized House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) for handing out souvenir pens after signing the House's articles of impeachment last month, complete with video.

During his remarks from the floor of the Senate, Sekulow said that he wanted to "contrast the solemn nature of these proceedings and what has been laid out before us, from a both historical and constitutional perspective ... with what took place in the House of Representatives upon the signing of articles of impeachment."

The attorney then drew the chamber's attention to a video of the ceremony where Pelosi gave out souvenir signing pens after putting her mark on the House's two articles of impeachment earlier this month.

"Pens! Distributed to the impeachment managers," Sekulow said. "A celebratory moment: Think about that ... A poignant moment."

Sekulow's remarks echo criticism of the signing ceremony and its now-infamous souvenir pens that appeared to undermine Pelosi's longstanding talking point that impeachment was a serious and somber process.

"They claim it's a somber, serious occasion they're heartbroken over ... and then they pass out impeachment-signing pens with special cases. Folks. You can't make it up," Rep. Mark Meadows (N.C.) tweeted at the time.

"Dems were giddy with excitement in Capitol hallway, asking, 'Did you get your pen?'" Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) wrote about the event. "The American people will hold House Dems accountable for making a mockery of their duty to the Constitution."

"We are used to seeing signing ceremonies, handing out pens at moments of celebration, when a president is signing legislation, when even sometimes...when the House sends over a piece of legislation," CNN's Dana Bash said of the signing ceremony. "It was unusual to see that kind of ceremony and handing out the pens and smiling for a picture in this kind of situation where the House Speaker has bent over backwards to say publicly and privately this is somber, this is not a time for celebration."

"Nothing says seriousness and sobriety like handing out souvenirs," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said days after the signing.