Former President Donald Trump pressed his Vice President Mike Pence to join an unlawful scheme to rig the 2020 US election and incited a mob that threatened his deputy’s life when he refused, congressional investigators and former administration advisers claimed Thursday.
The House committee investigating last year’s attack on the US Capitol recounted how the former President chastised Mike Pence for refusing to go through with the illegal operation, even after being notified that violence had erupted as Congress was gathering to certify Joe Biden’s victory.
The panel revealed a “relentless” pressure campaign by Trump on Pence as the cornerstone of a criminal conspiracy to maintain the defeated president in power at its third public hearing investigating the January 6, 2021 insurgency.
“Donald Trump wanted Mike Pence to do something no previous Vice President has ever done: he wanted Pence to reject the ballots and either declare Trump the victor or send the votes back to the states to be tallied anew,” stated Panel Chairman Bennie Thompson.
“Mike Pence declined. He stood firm under the strain. He was well aware that it was prohibited. He was well aware that it was incorrect.”
According to committee vice-chair Liz Cheney, Trump’s lawyer John Eastman was the architect of the “nonsense” strategy, pushing it vigorously while knowing it was illegal.