Vice President Mike Pence considered skipping the 2020 Electoral College vote count in Congress on January 6, 2021, fearing his attendance would be “too damaging” to former President Donald Trump.
Pence, 64, revealed his last-minute concerns about presiding over the peaceful transfer of power during a deposition taken by prosecutors in special counsel Jack Smith’s office earlier this year, ABC News reported.
Sources familiar with Smith’s investigation spoke to the outlet about Pence’s recollection of the former president’s pressure to decertify the electoral count.
Smith subpoenaed Pence in February, and the former vice president subsequently attended interviews and shared details about handwritten notes, currently stored in the National Archives, that revealed his doubts.
On Christmas Eve 2020, Pence reportedly took note that he would step aside and allow a successor chosen by Trump to take his place for election certification.
Former Vice President Mike Pence considered skipping certification of the 2020 election on January 6, 2021, fearing it would be “too damaging” to former President Donald Trump. AFP via Getty Images Pence revealed to prosecutors in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s office his last-minute concerns about the peaceful transfer of the presidency to Joe Biden, ABC News reported. POOL/AFP via Getty Images
“I do not feel that I should attend the electoral count,” the former vice president wrote. “Too many questions, too many doubts, too hurtful for my friend. Therefore I will not participate in the election certification.”
In later interviews with Smith’s office, Pence described the crumbling of his friendship with Trump despite his attempts to remain loyal in the face of the president’s claims of a “stolen election.”
At one point in late December 2020, the vice president told House Republicans in a private meeting to “gather their evidence” about election irregularities and said Trump allies would have “our day in the Congress”.
In later interviews with Smith’s office, Pence described the crumbling of his friendship with Trump despite his attempts to remain loyal in the face of the president’s claims of a “stolen election.” REUTERS
“My only highest loyalty was to God and the Constitution,” Pence told Smith’s office of his thoughts at the end of 2020, while adding that he remained “very open to the possibility that there may have been voter fraud.”
But during a Christmas vacation in Colorado, he had a conversation with his son, a Navy pilot, that strengthened his resolve to oversee the certification count.
“Dad, you took the same oath that I took,” his son, Michael Pence, said, referring to the “oath to support and defend the Constitution” of all American officials, Pence told Smith’s office, solidifying his decision to preside over the Capitol in January. 6.
“Dad, you took the same oath that I took,” his son, Michael Pence, said, referring to the “oath to support and defend the Constitution” of all American officials, Pence told Smith’s office. AFP via Getty Images
Pence frequently referenced his decision to certify 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 final words of the oath also became the title of Pence’s 2022 memoir, “So Help Me God,” which also recounts a phone call with Trump on Christmas Day 2020 in which the vice president emphasized that he had no “ the authority to change the outcome.” ”of the election.
“You know, I don’t think I have the authority to change the outcome,” Pence said he told Trump, but later clarified to Smith’s office that the comma should have been removed from the sentence, to imply that both he and the former president understood the limits of their powers at that time.
Supporters of President Donald Trump clashed with police at the Capitol on January 6, 2021. James Keivom
Neither a Pence spokesperson nor representatives from Smith’s office responded to a request for comment Tuesday.
Smith charged Trump with four counts in August, accusing the 77-year-old of making “knowingly false” claims about voter fraud in the 2020 election and of conspiring and attempting to obstruct the certification of the election count.
The charges involved direct pressure on Pence in the final days of the Trump administration to reject Biden’s victory in battleground states, and a plan by lawyer John Eastman to send election results to state lawmakers.
“Tens of millions of Americans, including Vice President Pence, as he repeatedly stated, have had serious concerns about the legitimacy of the rigged and stolen 2020 presidential election, further demonstrating that the illegal impeachment of President Trump must be summarily dismissed. “a Trump spokesperson 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
In conversations with prosecutors, Pence also denounced Trump’s legal effort to subvert the outcome with the help of “maniacal” lawyers and “un-American” theories that brought the nation to the brink of a “constitutional crisis.”
The former vice president was concerned that hours after polls closed on Election Day, Trump would declare that “significant fraud” had occurred and sought outside counsel from Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, who were later charged as co-defendants. with the former president for trying to overturn the results in Georgia.
Pence told Smith’s office that the lawyers “did a disservice to the president and the country” by pushing notions of widespread voter fraud, and that Trump “knew” his vice president was ignoring his claims.
“I told him that I thought there was no idea more un-American than the idea that anyone could decide which electoral votes to count,” Pence said of his heated arguments with Trump. “I made it very clear to him that it was incompatible with our history and tradition.”
In conversations with prosecutors, Pence also denounced Trump’s legal effort to subvert the 2020 presidential election with the help of “maniacal” lawyers that nearly sparked a “constitutional crisis.” fake images
Another revelation to Smith’s team shows that even Trump considered leaving the White House without problems during a December 21, 2020 meeting in the Oval Office.
When asked for his opinion, Pence told the president that he should “just accept the results,” “take a bow,” thank his supporters across the country “and then run again if he wants” in 2024.
“And I’ll never forget it,” he pointed out to me, Pence told Smith’s office, “as if to say, ‘That’s worth thinking about.’ and he walked [away].”
REUTERS
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