Jan. 6th committee focuses on Pence’s resistance to overturn election

Former Vice President and Columbus native Mike Pence was the talk of the third public hearing of the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol Thursday.

The hearings focused on efforts to pressure Pence to overturn the 2020 election results.

Pence’s life was in danger on January 6th, 2021, California Democrat Pete Aguilar  explained during the Thursday hearing.

Aguilar described Secret Service efforts to move Pence, saying that at one point the rioters were 40 feet away from the vice president.

Rioters were angry that Pence had not agreed to take steps to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Some chanted, “Hang Mike Pence!”

A former counselor to Pence says a VP has no legal authority to overturn the results of a presidential election. Greg Jacob testified at yesterday’s hearing of the January 6th House committee.

Another former Pence adviser said a move to upend the results of a presidential election could have plunged the nation into an unprecedented constitutional crisis. Retired Judge Michael Luttig called the rule of law a “profound truth” in America and said truth was violated during last year’s attack on the Capitol. Pence resisted intense pressure from then-President Trump and concluded he had no constitutional authority to overturn the election.

The chairman of the January 6th House committee praised Pence for his courag. Mississippi Democrat Bennie Thompson said then-President Trump “turned the mob” on Pence.

Committee Co-Chair Liz Cheney said Pence “understood that his oath of office was more important than his loyalty to Donald Trump.” The Wyoming Republican stressed that Pence did his duty while Trump did not. Pence has said he had no constitutional authority to overturn the presidential election.

The committee is releasing video clips of witnesses to a heated phone call between then-President Trump and Vice President Pence on the morning of January 6th. Former First Daughter Ivanka Trump described the call, saying it was a “different tone” than she had heard her father use with the vice president before.

Other witnesses talked about hearing Trump accuse Pence of not being tough enough.

Meanwhile, Pence was in Cincinnati yesterday for a roundtable with members of Ohio’s oil and gas industry.

The former vice president has said he is considering a run for president in 2024, but he has made no announcement.

Reports courtesy of TTWN Media Networks Inc.