Trump Endangered Me and Everyone on Capitol Hill, Says Former Vice President Pence

Criticized by Republicans since he opposed the attempt to avoid the inauguration of Joe Biden to the presidency, former US Vice President Mike Pence accused Donald Trump of having been “reckless” and of having “put him and his family in danger”. when inciting the crowd before the capitol invasion in January 2021. The episode, which left five dead, is considered a fissure in the country’s history of democracy.

After losing to the Democrat, Trump organized a rally in Washington to condemn what he called election fraud. The then president wanted Pence to refuse to recognize the result of the vote. When the signal was not followed, Republican supporters stormed the House of Representatives in an attempt to prevent Biden from being certified by the US Senate.

The certification procedure, considered protocol, would be commanded by Pence. But, faced with the invasion, the former vice president had to hide from the aggressors, as did other congressional Republicans and Democrats. The ceremony had to be postponed and was concluded at dawn.

“The president’s words that day at the rally [antes do ataque] put me, my family and everyone on Capitol Hill in danger,” Pence told ABC on Monday, in the Republican’s first television interview after the attack. “The president’s words were reckless.”

At first, Trump refused to ask his supporters to leave Capitol Hill. He even wrote on a social network that his vice president “didn’t have the courage to do what he should have done” to keep him in office. About the publication, Pence said he was “angry”.

According to the House committee investigating the Capitol Hill raid, Trump reportedly pressured Pence to contest Biden’s victory even after he was told that the then vice president had no authority to formally oppose his defeat. Relatives of the former president also said that the two fought over the phone. A former aide said he heard the word “coward” in the discussion.

Inflated by the then president, thousands of Trump supporters shouted for Pence to be removed from the Capitol or hanged. Liz Cheney, vice chairman of the committee, said the former chairman responded to the screams saying “maybe our supporters are right”.

On the day of the invasion, Pence, on the other hand, wrote to Congress that the US Founding Fathers never intended the Vice President to have “unilateral authority” to overturn election recounts. He also added that “no vice president in the country’s history has asserted such authority.”

Also on Monday, the deadline for Trump to testify to the committee investigating the invasion ends. The assessment of lawmakers is that the prospect of ending the work without talking to Trump, the central character of the episode, would be insufficient. The case is also being investigated by the Department of Justice, whose investigation has increased the siege against the former president.

It is still uncertain, however, whether the Republican will testify. A Supreme Court ruling grants former presidents the so-called executive privilege, a mechanism that, to some extent, protects them from giving evidence. The commission understands, however, that there are limits to the activation of the device and cite cases in which other former presidents testified in similar bodies of Congress.

Despite the wear and tear, Trump is expected to announce, this Tuesday (15), a new candidacy for the presidency. The decision must be made despite the poor performance of politicians loyal to the former president in the midterms, the midterm elections.

The Democratic Party has secured a narrow majority in the Senate and will retain control of the House for the next two years, in a major victory for Biden’s party – which will thereby retain some degree of governability even if it loses a majority in the House, whose composition has not yet been formed. is defined.

Even so, the Republican summoned the press for what he calls a “big announcement” at 9 pm this Tuesday (11 pm GMT) in Florida. Pence is also believed to be a presidential candidate.