17-06-22, 12:51
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#23
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re: CAPITOL Riot:TRUMP KNEW Mob Was Armed-'Get MeTo My People' & Tried to Grab Wheel
Trump Put VP Mike Pence in Danger During Capitol Riot, Says Panel
Trump Called Pence a Wimp’ & P****' Amid Pressure to Overturn Election - Jan 6 Hearing
BBC News 17 JUN 2022.
During a Jan. 6 Committee hearing on June 16, the committee played edited testimony from witnesses to a phone call, in which President Donald Trump pressured former Vice President Mike Pence to change his position on counting electoral votes.
Several people in the room, including Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump, testified to how “heated” the telephone discussion became. Aides said Trump used words like “wimp” and the “p-word” against Pence.
Former President Donald Trump pressured his vice president, Mike Pence, to overturn his 2020 election defeat despite being told repeatedly Pence had no authority to do so, aides to Pence told the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol on Thursday.
Chairman of the House of Representatives select committee Bennie Thompson said Trump continued his pressure campaign even as a violent mob of his supporters descended on the Capitol as Pence and lawmakers met to formally certify President Joe Biden's election victory.
"Mike Pence said no. He resisted the pressure. He knew it was illegal. He knew it was wrong. That courage put him in tremendous danger."
Committee members reconstructed the events of January 6th, showing how close Pence came to real danger as he fled from the rioters chanting "hang Mike Pence" -- a gallows erected outside.
"Approximately 40 feet. That's all there was. Forty feet between the vice president and the mob."
Among the mob - members of the far-right militia the Proud Boys, some of whom are now charged with seditious conspiracy for their role in the attack.
"A recent court filing by the Department of Justice explains that a confidential informant from the Proud Boys told the FBI the Proud Boys would have killed Mike Pence, if given a chance."
While several aides and advisors testified that Pence told Trump repeatedly that he did not have the authority to stop the vote certification, the origin of the idea was placed squarely by witnesses at the feet of attorney John Eastman.
Eastman had argued Pence could reject results from certain states if he thought they were illegitimate.
Former White House lawyer Eric Herschmann described a call with Eastman, in a recorded video testimony.
“And I said to him, ‘are you out of your effing mind?’ I said, ‘I only want to hear two words coming out of your mouth from now on: orderly transition."
Advisers to Pence, including conservative former U.S. Appeals Court Judge J. Michael Luttig told the committee that idea had no basis in LAW
"That declaration of Donald Trump as the next president would have plunged America into what I believe would have been tantamount to a revolution within a constitutional crisis."
Trump has repeatedly denied wrongdoing, while repeating his false accusations that he lost the election only because of widespread fraud. He is widely expected to run for president again in 2024. Witnesses warned that he would not accept defeat no matter the actual outcome.
"Donald Trump and his allies and supporters are a clear and present danger to American democracy."
The committee showed an email Eastman sent to Trump's attorney, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, asking for a presidential pardon. Eastman never received one.
Trump Called Pence a Wimp’ & P****' Amid Pressure to Overturn Election
Ex-President Donald Trump put his Vice-President Mike Pence in danger during the January 6 Capitol riot as he illegally pressured him to quash the 2020 election, says a congressional panel.
Lawmakers have heard from Pence aides who described White House efforts to reject President Joe Biden's victory.
US democracy "withstood Trump's scheme" because Mr Pence refused to bow to Mr Trump, said chairman Bennie Thompson.
The committee has accused Trump of an attempted coup to remain in power.
Watch day 3 highlights from the January 6 public hearings
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