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The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot examined Thursday former Vice President Mike Pence’s decision not to bow to his boss’s pressure campaign to declare him the victor of the 2020 presidential election unilaterally despite Joe Biden being declared the winner. Here are five takeaways from the latest hearing.
MICHAEL LUTTIG TO PRAISE MIKE PENCE OVER JAN. 6 CONDUCT AND REBUKE DONALD TRUMP
Pence refused to leave the Capitol during the attack
Greg Jacob, the former counsel to the vice president, told the committee that once Pence was rushed to a secure location as the Capitol was sieged, Pence refused a Secret Service request to leave the complex because he did not want the world to see the vice president flee from his constitutional duty and did not want the rioters to have the satisfaction.
“He was determined that we would complete the work that we had set out to do that day,” Jacob said.
Never-before-seen photos of Pence in secure location
The committee showed never-before-seen photos of Pence in the secure location, which appeared to be a loading dock deep within the complex, in which he spent several hours during the attack. One of the photos showed Pence looking at a tweet then-President Donald Trump sent as the attack wore on, with Pence’s daughter nearby, appearing concerned.
https://twitter.com/jamiedupree/status/1537514511728533515
Asked how both Pence and his wife reacted to not receiving a call or any other outreach from Trump about their safety, Jacob replied: “with frustration.”
Eastman emailed another request to reject results while Pence was in a secure location
Jacob testified that Trump attorney John Eastman emailed him after the attack to argue that the Electoral Count Act had already been violated due to the delay presented by the attack and urged him to have Pence reject the results as he and Trump wanted.
“I implore you to consider one more minor violation,” the email said.
Jacob said Pence later called the email “rubber room stuff,” meaning it was certifiably insane.
Pence cast as courageous by committee Democrats
Committee Democrats offered words of praise for Pence for declining to go along with the scheme to overturn the election. In his opening remarks, panel Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-MS) said Trump pressured Pence to reject the votes but that “Mike Pence said no.”
“He resisted the pressure. He knew it was illegal. He knew it was wrong,” Thompson said. “We are fortunate for Mr. Pence’s courage.”
Lawmakers praised Pence for resisting what committee member Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-CA) cited a judge calling “a coup in search of a legal theory.”
Jacob rejects fake electors
Jacob testified that Pence’s “first instinct” after hearing arguments he could reject the results was that there was “no way” framers of the Constitution intended the vice president to have that kind of power and recalled watching then-Vice President Al Gore “gavel down” objections to his own loss in 2000.
“There’s no justifiable basis to conclude the vice president has that kind of authority,” Jacob said.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Asked by Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) about Eastman’s argument that Pence could unilaterally declare Trump the president based on dual slates of electors, Jacob rejected the claim.
“Were there dual slates of electors?” Cheney asked.
“No, there were not,” Jacob said, meaning the fake electors carried no legal authority.
