There was revealing testimony during the Jan. 6 hearing on Thursday, focusing on how President Donald Trump put immense pressure on Vice President Mike Pence to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Lawyers and federal judges testified that Pence could not and would not cooperate with Trump because doing so would have created a constitutional crisis.
In a conversation between two of Trump’s attorneys, Eric Herschmann recalled telling Trump’s White House attorney John Eastman, “You’re completely crazy. You’re going turn around and tell 78-plus million people in this country that your theory is — this is how you’re going invalidate their votes — ’cause you think the election was stolen? And I said they’re not going to tolerate that. I said, ‘You’re going to cause riots in the streets.’ And he said words to the effect of, ‘There’s been violence in the history of our country in order to protect the democracy or protect the republic.’”
Pence refused to listen to Trump’s demands and instead committed to uphold constitutional law. Trump then turned to the crowd, saying his victory depended solely on Mike Pence. Shortly after, the mob breached the Capitol, and when searching for the vice president, chanted “Hang Mike Pence.”
Pence narrowly escaped the crowd; some came within 40 feet of him. Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-California) presented testimony from a confidential Proud Boys informant saying “the Proud Boys would have killed Mike Pence, if given a chance.”
Pence never left the Capitol and remained in an underground location for more than four hours. He later returned to the House floor to ensure that Congress completed the certification of the 2020 election. The next hearing about the events of Jan. 6, 2021 will be held on Tuesday.
