Vice President Mike Pence is considering skipping the congressional count of the 2020 Electoral College vote on January 6, 2021, fearing his presence would be “too painful” for former President Donald Trump.
Pence, 64, revealed his eleventh-hour concerns about presiding over a peaceful transition of power during a deposition taken by prosecutors in special counsel Jack Smith’s office earlier this year, ABC News reported.
A source familiar with the Smith investigation spoke to the outlet about Pence’s recollection of the former president’s pressure to deny the election count.
Smith called Pence in February, and the former vice president later attended an interview and shared details about a handwritten note — now housed in the National Archives — that revealed his doubts.
On Christmas Eve 2020, Pence reportedly made a note that he would step aside and allow Trump’s chosen successor to fill his position for election certification.
Former Vice President Mike Pence is considering skipping the 2020 election certification on January 6, 2021, fearing it would be “too painful” for former President Donald Trump. AFP via Getty Images Pence revealed his eleventh-hour concerns about presiding over the peaceful transfer of the presidency to Joe Biden to prosecutors in the office of special counsel Jack Smith, ABC News reported. POOL/AFP via Getty Images
“Don’t feel like I have to attend the election count,” wrote the former vice president. “Too many questions, too many doubts, too hurt my friend. Therefore I will not participate in the election certification.”
In a subsequent interview with Smith’s office, Pence described the unraveling of his friendship with Trump even as he tried to remain loyal in the face of the president’s “stolen election” claims.
At one point in late December 2020, the vice president told House Republicans in a private meeting to “get your evidence together” on election fraud and said Trump allies would have “our day in Congress.”
In a subsequent interview with Smith’s office, Pence described the unraveling of his friendship with Trump even as he tried to remain loyal in the face of the president’s “stolen election” claims. Reuters
“My only higher loyalty is to God and the Constitution,” Pence told Smith’s office about his thoughts in late 2020, adding that he remains “very open to the possibility of voter fraud.”
But during a Christmas vacation to Colorado, he had a conversation with his son, a Marine pilot, that strengthened his resolve to keep an eye on the certification count.
“Dad, you took the same oath that I did,” said his son, Michael Pence, referring to the “oath to support and defend the Constitution” of all US officials,” Pence told Smith’s office, confirming his decision to preside over the Capitol on Jan. 6. .
“Dad, you took the same oath that I took,” said his son, Michael Pence, referring to the “oath to support and defend the Constitution,” Pence told Smith’s office. AFP via Getty Images
Pence frequently referenced his decision to confirm former Vice President Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory that day during his four-month campaign for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination this year.
The closing words of the oath also became the title of Pence’s 2022 memoir, “So Help Me God,” which also recounted a Christmas Day 2020 phone call with Trump in which the veep insisted he did not “have the power to change the decision. ” election.
“You know, I don’t think I have the authority to change that decision,” Pence said, he told Trump, but then explained to Smith’s office that the comma should have been removed from the sentence — to suggest he and the former president understood the limits of their authority at the time. that.
Supporters of President Donald Trump clash with police at the Capitol on January 6, 2021. James Keivom
Neither a spokesman for Pence nor a representative from Smith’s office responded to requests for comment Tuesday.
Smith indicted Trump on four counts in August, accusing the 77-year-old of making “knowingly false” allegations of voter fraud in the 2020 election and conspiring and attempting to obstruct the certification of election counts.
The allegations involve direct pressure on Pence in the final days of the Trump administration to overturn Biden’s victory in battleground states, and a scheme by attorney John Eastman to send election results back to state lawmakers.
“Tens of millions of Americans, including Vice President Pence, as he has repeatedly stated himself, have grave and serious concerns about the legitimacy of the rigged and stolen 2020 Presidential Election, further proving that the lawless impeachment against President Trump must summarily dismissed,” a Trump spokesman told ABC News in a statement.
Pence frequently referenced his decision to certify Biden’s Electoral College victory that day during his four-month campaign for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination this year. Paige Kahn/NY Post
Pence in talks with prosecutors also denounced Trump’s legal efforts to overturn the decision with the help of “frustrating” lawyers and “un-American” theories that move the country to the brink of a “constitutional crisis.”
The former vice president grew concerned that hours after the polls closed on Election Day, Trump declared “massive fraud” had occurred and brought in outside counsel from Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, who were later indicted as co-defendants of the former president for trying to overturn the results in Georgia.
Pence told Smith’s office that the lawyers “did the president a great disservice and the country a disservice” in dismissing the notion of widespread voter fraud — and that Trump “knew” his vice president was ignoring their allegations.
“I told him that I think there is no idea more un-American than the idea that any person can decide which electoral votes are going to count,” Pence said of his heated discussion with Trump. “I made it clear to him that it is not consistent with our history and tradition.”
Pence in talks with prosecutors also denounced Trump’s legal efforts to subvert the 2020 presidential election with the help of “ridiculous” lawyers that are on the verge of triggering a “constitutional crisis.” Getty Images
Another revelation to Smith’s team showed even Trump considered leaving the White House without any fanfare during the Dec. 21, 2020 meeting in the Oval Office.
Asked for his opinion, Pence told the president that he “just has to accept the decision,” “keep your head down,” thank his supporters around the country “and then run again if you want” in 2024.
“And I’ll never forget, he pointed at me,” Pence told Smith’s office, “as if to say, ‘That’s worth thinking about.’ And he walked [away].”
Reuters
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
