Topline
Former President Donald Trump warned former Vice President Mike Pence that his future in politics was on the line as Trump allegedly pressured Pence to contest the results of the 2020 presidential election on Jan. 6, 2021, according to newly released testimony—as Trump has continued to praise the rioters on the campaign trail.
Key Facts
An unnamed White House employee, described by the New York Times as a personal attendant to the president and who said he was at Trump’s side throughout the day, told the House Jan. 6 committee he heard the president, speaking from the Oval Office to Pence on the phone the morning of Jan. 6, tell Pence “this is a political career killer if you do this,” referring to Pence’s role in certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election in President Joe Biden’s favor.
The White House employee made the statement while testifying before the committee in its sprawling 18-month-long investigation, involving interviews with more than 1,000 witnesses, according to a heavily redacted transcript first obtained by the New York Times.
The witness also described Trump as apathetic to the violence taking place outside the Capitol: when Trump was informed that someone had been shot: “There was no, like, reaction,” the White House employee said, also noting that Trump responded, “like ‘Oh really?’” when he was informed of the riots, then proceeded to watch them on television.
The employee testified that he heard the then-president discussing wanting to talk to former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., about the possibility of sending the National Guard to the Capitol—a point of contention in the House investigation, which found that it took more than four hours from the time the Capitol police chief called for backup to deploy the National Guard—though the White House employee did not say he heard Trump give any orders to send the troops.
The employee also said he did not hear Trump endorse rioters’ chants to “hang” Pence—a rallying cry Trump defended in speaking with ABC News’ Jon Karl for his book “Betrayal,” according to audio of the interview obtained by Axios in which Trump reportedly told Karl “it’s common sense, Jon” and said the rioters were trying to prevent Pence from certifying a “fraudulent vote” when Karl mentioned the threat.
The White House employee, speaking about what he described as a “frustrated” and “angry” Trump in the final days of his presidency, said Trump would “typically” rip up documents, photos and newspaper articles when he was done reviewing them, confirming an alleged habit repeatedly raised in the Justice Department’s investigation into his handling of classified documents after leaving office.
Key Background
The House Jan. 6 committee concluded its investigation into the Jan. 6 Capitol riots in December 2022 by making criminal referrals against Trump and five of his confidants. It subsequently released a sprawling 845-page report detailing its findings and recommending Trump be barred from holding public office in the future, blaming him for inciting the riots. The Justice Department indicted Trump in August on four counts related to his efforts to subvert the results of the 2020 presidential election, including obstruction of an official proceeding for his alleged efforts to block Congress from certifying the results. Trump has refused to condemn the Jan. 6 Capitol riots and claimed he and others charged in connection with the events of that day have been unfairly demonized, making it a central focus of his re-election campaign. If elected, Trump has vowed one of his first acts as president would be to “free” people charged and convicted of crimes in connection with Jan. 6.
Tangent
Pence has long-maintained that his role in certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election was purely a formality instilled upon him by the constitution and that he did not have the authority to reject the results. Pence has accused Trump of endangering his family that day by rallying his supporters to march to the Capitol. Breaking with other prominent Republicans, he recently said he would not endorse his former boss’ re-election campaign, telling Fox News it “should come as no surprise.” Pence said the decision was about more than his differences with Trump regarding the “constitutional duties [he]
exercised on Jan. 6.”