January 6 Commission: Rejecting Biden’s victory against American principles

With two witnesses, including Mr. Pence’s lawyer, the House committee tried to show that then-President Donald Trump’s false allegations of election manipulation led him to try to find other alternatives, while the courts rejected dozens of lawsuits challenging the election result.

Mr. Trump adhered to Conservative law professor John Eastman’s plan and launched a campaign of public and private pressure on Mr. Pence, just days before the vice president chaired a joint congressional hearing on Jan. 6 to certify election victory by Democrat Joe Biden. .

The chairman of the commission, lawmaker Bennie Thompson, opened the session by quoting Mr. Pence himself as saying that he had “almost no more non-American ideas” than what he was asked to do – to reject the election result.

“Mr. Trump wanted Mr. Mike Pence to do something no other vice president has ever done“, Said the legislator Thompson. “Democracy approached disaster dangerously”.

Rejecting Mr. Trump’s demands, Mr. Pence “did his job,” said commission chairwoman Liz Cheney, a Republican from Wyoming.

The commission presented the situation of the last days before the Jan. 6 attack on Congress, as Mr. Donald Trump stepped up his efforts to change lengthy election procedures, putting the vice president at risk as the crowd turned to Congress.

The commission heard evidence from Greg Jacob, the vice president’s adviser, who opposed Professor Eastman’s idea that Mr. Pence should implement the plan. Retired federal judge Michael Luttig also testified, calling the plan by Mr Eastman, his former legal assistant, “inaccurate at every turn”.

Mr Jacob said Mr Pence had called him to his office in early December 2020 to clarify the role of the vice-president in certifying the election result. He said it became clear to Mr Pence that the founding fathers of the Constitution did not intend to give power to any individual, not even someone running for a senior post, to influence the outcome of the election.

“Mr. Pence never wavered from that point of view“, Said Mr. Jacob.

Mr Luttig said that if Mr Pence had obeyed Mr Trump’s orders, which were clearly in violation of the law, “Donald Trump’s announcement would have plunged America” ​​into what he said he would “It was tantamount to a revolution and a constitutional crisis in America.”

The commission aims to show that the pressure Mr. Trump exerted on Mr. Pence contributed directly to the attack on the Capitol.

During the commission’s work, film footage was shown showing protesters outside the Capitol shouting “hang Mike Pence” and insulting him with vulgar words as they attacked the building. Thursday’s hearing is expected to yield new evidence regarding the danger Mr. Pence faced after the violent attack on the Capitol.

Mr. Thompson said Thursday that the commission will seek an interview with Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, following the revelation of the Conservative activist’s communications with Mr. Trump’s inner circle prior to the attack. Yes he did not give details on when the interview could take place.

“It’s time for her to come and talk“Mr Thompson told reporters before the start of the hearing.

But before the hearing, Mr. Pence’s former chief of staff, Marc Short, said his boss was determined to stay in the Capitol that night and finish the job despite threats.

“He knew his job was to stay in his job“Mr. Short told CNN on Wednesday.

Mr Short said Mr Pence did not want the world to see the vice-president leave the Capitol, a hallmark of democracy, while under siege.

Republican lawmaker Liz Cheney, in her capacity as deputy chair of the inquiry committee and Mr. Trump’s most vocal opponent in the committee, said last week that the former president, who was watching the chaos on television from the White House, told aides his, that he agreed with the idea that Mr. Pence should be hanged.

“Maybe our supporters are right. Mike Pence deserves such a thing“Mr. Trump is suspected to have said that.

Ms Cheney also said that “President Trump believed that his supporters on the Capitol were doing ‘what they’s supposed to do'”, referring to his words.

“This is what he said to his aides as they begged his supporters to leaveSaid Cheney.

In a video message, which preceded the hearing, Ms. Cheney referred to a recent decision by a federal judge, according to which Mr. Trump may have committed two federal crimes by exerting pressure on Mr. Pence.

In response to committee hearings, former President Trump issued a 12-page statement Monday, calling the investigation an attempt by Democrats to prevent him from running again for the 2024 election.

Thursday’s hearing is the third in a series scheduled this month to show how the violent attack took place and what was the role of Mr. Trump, who invited his supporters to Washington, urging them to ” fight with all their might ”to keep him in office.

More than 800 people have been arrested on charges ranging from illegal entry, vandalism of the Capitol, to assault on police. Some of the leaders of the violent attack have been accused of plotting to overthrow the government by force.

On Monday, the House committee showed recorded evidence from several White House aides who said they had asked Mr. Trump on election day not to declare victory, advice he ignored, declaring victory in the hours the first morning of November 4, 2020.

Former Attorney General William Barr and numerous aides told the commission that in the run-up to the election and the attack on the Capitol, they had told Mr Trump that his allegations of election fraud were baseless and that he had lost the election. .

Mr Barr said in a statement to the commission that many of Mr. Trump’s allegations of “irregular voting” were “completely false and ridiculous.”

“Of course, he lost the election. There was no sufficient evidence base to reverse the election result“, Said Mr. Barr in his testimony./VOA

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