Category: Mike Pence

Categories
Capitol Insurrection Donald Trump January 6 Mike Pence The Trump Adminstration

Trump Complained About Pence Being Taken To Safety On 1/6 – Said VP Should Be Hung: Report

As rioters were storming the Capitol on January 6, 2021, then-President Donald Trump saw crowds of people chanting “Hang Mike Pence!” and said he agreed with them, getting upset when it became clear that the vice president had been whisked to safety by the U.S. Secret Service.

According to The New York Times:

Shortly after hundreds of rioters at the Capitol started chanting “Hang Mike Pence!” on Jan. 6, 2021, the White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, left the dining room off the Oval Office, walked into his own office and told colleagues that President Donald J. Trump was complaining that the vice president was being whisked to safety.

Mr. Meadows, according to an account provided to the House committee investigating Jan. 6, then told the colleagues that Mr. Trump had said something to the effect of, maybe Mr. Pence should be hung.

It is not clear what tone Mr. Trump was said to have used. But the reported remark was further evidence of how extreme the rupture between the president and his vice president had become, and of how Mr. Trump not only failed to take action to call off the rioters but appeared to identify with their sentiments about Mr. Pence — whom he had unsuccessfully pressured to block certification of the Electoral College results that day — as a reflection of his own frustration at being unable to reverse his loss.

Of course, this shouldn’t surprise anyone who actually knows what the failed, one-term, twice-impeached former president is capable of.

For example, Trump reportedly made fun of his own father, Fred Trump, as he faded into the darkness of Alzheimer’s disease, as first reported back in 2017 in the book Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man by Mary Trump, the ex-president’s niece:

“Among the family drama that Trump is set to spill in the book is how the current US president ‘dismissed and derided’ his father ‘when he began to succumb to Alzheimer’s,’ which he was diagnosed with in 1993, according to Simon & Schuster.”

Donald Trump is a complete asshole. He always has been, even as a child:

Dennis Burnham was four years younger and lived around the corner from Donald. He inherited his own impression of his neighbor from his mother, who warned that he should “stay away from the Trumps.”

“Donald was known to be a bully, I was a little kid, and my parents didn’t want me beaten up,” said Burnham, 65, a business consultant in Texas.

Once when she left Dennis in a playpen in a back yard adjoining the Trumps’ property, Martha Burnham returned to find Donald throwing rocks at her son. “She saw Donald standing at the fence,” Dennis Burnham said, “using the playpen for target ­practice.”

Should it surprise anyone that Donald was willing to see his own VP hang from a scaffold if it would allow him to remain as president indefinitely? If it does, then you simply haven’t been paying attention.

Categories
Capitol Insurrection Donald Trump Mike Pence

Mike Pence Believed The Secret Service Was Part Of The Jan. 6 Coup To Keep Trump In Power: Report

The plan had been laid out in advance and was proceeding perfectly on January 6, 2021.

As rioters began storming the U.S. Capitol, Secret Service agents assigned to Vice President Mike Pence insisted that he be taken to a safe location before the situation inside the building became too dangerous for security to handle.

But when it came time to put Pence into a vehicle that would spirit him to safety, the VP looked at the head of his Secret Service detail and insisted:

“I’m not getting in that car.”

That, according to House Select Committee member Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) is proof that Pence thought his own security detail was part of the larger plot that would keep Donald Trump in power via an illegal coup:

Speaking about the threats to Pence on Jan. 6 and the chants by rioters to hang him, Raskin said the vice president’s Secret Service agents — including one who was carrying the nuclear football — ran down to an undisclosed place in the Capitol. Those agents, who Raskin said he suspects were reporting to Trump’s Secret Service agents, were trying to whisk Pence away from the Capitol.

Pence then “uttered what I think are the six most chilling words of this entire thing I’ve seen so far: ‘I’m not getting in that car,'” Raskin said.

“He knew exactly what this inside coup they had planned for was going to do,” Raskin said.

Pence’s words also raise another issue: What did the vice president know, and when did he know it? Since he hasn’t yet testified before the Jan. 6 committee, we simply don’t know, and that has set off a firestorm of angry debate on Twitter, where many people are saying Pence must be compelled to tell his side of the story.

There are so many unanswered questions, and answers are more important than ever before if we truly cherish the American republic.

 

Categories
Capitol Insurrection Donald Trump Mike Pence

Former Pence Staffers Are Being ‘Particularly Cooperative’ With House Jan. 6 Committee

In what can only be seen as the ultimate irony, it now appears that the evidence most likely to result in criminal charges being filed against failed, twice-impeached former President Donald Trump may be provided by staffers who once worked for former Vice President Mike Pence.

According to Axios, members of Pence’s staff have been “particularly cooperative” with the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 Capitol insurrection:

People in and around former Vice President Mike Pence’s office have been particularly cooperative as the Jan. 6 select committee focuses on what former President Trump was doing during the more than three hours the Capitol was under attack, sources familiar with the testimony tell Axios.

The cooperation of those who had a front-row seat to what transpired on that horrible January day is key to the committee, which is on the verge of holding public hearings that could further expose Trump and members of his inner circle to criminal referrals the Justice Department would be hard-pressed to ignore.

Some of the former Pence staff members have even agreed to talk to the Jan. 6 panel without having to be subpoenaed:

  • Both Pence’s former chief of staff Marc Short, and former press secretary Alyssa Farah, who later served as White House communications director, are among those cooperating with the committee.
  • Keith Kellogg also has given a deposition.
  • One source familiar with their involvement said Short, who was subpoenaed by the committee, would not have cooperated without the approval of Pence.

The committee has received the most helpful information from “second- and third-tier administration staff who were not directly involved but were at the White House on Jan. 6 and had access to top administration officials.”

After speaking with the committee, Farah noted:

“You could see how much information they already had.

“Those who are refusing to cooperate likely are doing so out of complete fealty to Donald Trump and not wanting to piss him off.

“But, secondarily, because they’re realizing the committee has quite a bit more information than they realized. And their involvement is known to a much greater degree than they realized.”

The upcoming public hearings could prove to be a tipping point that will convince the majority of Americans Trump and members of his staff need to be held accountable and prosecuted for their crimes. And they should also make for the most fascinating television since the Watergate hearings back in 1974.

 


Categories
Capitol Insurrection Donald Trump Mike Pence The Trump Organization WTF?!

Trump Claims Threats To ‘Hang Mike Pence’ Were OK Because ‘People Were Very Angry’

Chants and threats to “hang Mike Pence” by insurrectionists who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 were no big deal, according to failed former President Donald Trump because “people were very angry.”

In an interview with Jonathan Karl of ABC News, the one-term, twice-impeached Trump said he was certain Pence was safe as thousands of pro-Trump supporters rioted and forced their way into Congress on the day that the 2020 presidential election was being certified.

Karl asked Trump:

“Were you worried about (Pence) during that siege? Were you worried about his safety?”

Trump responded:

“No, I thought he was well-protected, and I had heard that he was in good shape. No. Because I had heard he was in very good shape. But, but, no, I think —”

That led Karl to interject:

“Because you heard those chants — that was terrible. I mean — “

Trump:

“He could have — well, the people were very angry.”

And then Trump began to further rationalize how close Pence came to being killed:

“Because it’s common sense, Jon. It’s common sense that you’re supposed to protect. How can you — if you know a vote is fraudulent, right? — how can you pass on a fraudulent vote to Congress? How can you do that? And I’m telling you: 50/50, it’s right down the middle for the top constitutional scholars when I speak to them. Anybody I spoke to — almost all of them at least pretty much agree, and some very much agree with me — because he’s passing on a vote that he knows is fraudulent. How can you pass a vote that you know is fraudulent? Now, when I spoke to him, I really talked about all of the fraudulent things that happened during the election. I didn’t talk about the main point, which is the legislatures did not approve — five states. The legislatures did not approve all of those changes that made the difference between a very easy win for me in the states, or a loss that was very close, because the losses were all very close.”

In other words, because Trump lost to President Joe Biden, Pence was expendable, little more than a pawn in the larger plan for a coup that the ex-president and his allies put in place shortly after it became clear that Biden had won by a landslide.

If the House Select Committee was looking for a smoking gun which proves Donald Trump’s culpability for what took place on Jan. 6, they don’t have to look any further than his remarks to Jon Karl.

 

Categories
Capitol Insurrection Donald Trump Elections Mike Pence The Trump Adminstration

Members Of Mike Pence’s ‘Inner Circle’ Appear Ready To Tell What They Know To The 1/6 Committee

In a move that could well spell big trouble for failed, one-term former President Donald Trump and those who conspired with him to arrange the rioting which took place at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, it appears that five members of former Vice President Mike Pence’s inner circle are ready to tell what they know to the House Select Committee investigating what transpired on that fateful day earlier this year.

According to CNN, the committee does indeed want to speak with top officials who served as senior advisers to Pence:

Among them is Pence’s former national security adviser, Keith Kellogg, who was subpoenaed by the committee on Tuesday and was with former President Donald Trump most of the day on January 6.

While Kellogg was subpoenaed, most of the other staffers are reportedly eager to provide testimony:

Multiple sources tell CNN that some individuals close to Pence may be willing, either voluntarily or under the guise of a “friendly subpoena,” to provide critical information on how Trump and his allies tried to pressure the former vice president to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

The other former Pence officials who are reportedly willing to talk to the committee include the ex-VP’s chief of staff:

Sources tell CNN the list consists of several people who are close to Pence, including former chief counsel Greg Jacob and former chief of staff Marc Short. Also of potential interest to the committee, according to a source with knowledge, are Pence’s previous chief of staff Nick Ayers, former legislative affairs director Chris Hodgson, political adviser Marty Obst, and former special assistant Zach Bauer.

In addition, former Pence press secretary and Trump communications aide Alyssa Farah, who left the administration in early December 2020, has voluntarily met with Republicans on the House select committee and provided information.

All five of the former Pence staffers are believed to have important details about what took place on the day of the Capitol insurrection, including information regarding what they may have heard or see Trump doing as pro-Trump supporters stormed the Capitol and threatened to kill members of Congress and Pence:

The committee also stated that Kellogg was at the White House on January 6 as the attack unfolded and has “direct information” regarding Trump’s “statements about and reactions to the Capitol insurrection.”

While Kellogg served as Pence’s national security adviser, he is considered a key witness because of his proximity to Trump on January 6. The former president’s then national security adviser, Robert O’Brien, was out of town that day.

Jacob, as chief counsel to Pence, is also a key figure because he “played a critical role in countering efforts to persuade the former vice president not to certify the electoral results.”

That effort, according to committee member Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), is important if the American people are ever to know exactly how close this country came to seeing a coup carried out by a sitting president:

“There was very clearly a plan on the political coup side to mobilize a campaign to get Mike Pence to block certification of the electoral college votes.”

Pence may also wind up being called to testify before the House Select Committee, which would set up an interesting quandary for a man who has tried to distance himself from his former boss but also needs Trump’s base of support if he hopes to run for the White House himself in 2024.