Special Counsel Jack Smith’s prosecution of the former president showed that in the days leading up to the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021, Vice President Mike Pence made “contemporaneous notes” of his talks with Donald Trump.
As part of the four federal allegations against Trump that stem from his behavior after the 2020 election and from his assertions that the election was stolen, Pence’s previously undisclosed notes are offered as evidence. The charges against Trump include fraud against the United States, attempted obstruction of justice, obstruction of justice, and conspiracies against rights.
Multiple phone discussions between Trump and Pence during late 2020 and early 2021 are referenced in the indictment as instances in which Trump made allegedly “knowingly false” election statements and urged Pence to supposedly prevent Congress from recognizing Joe Biden’s victory. Some of these discussions were included in Pence’s autobiography.
According to Pence’s notes, Trump said that the DOJ had been discovering major violations.
The story told by Smith is that Pence contacted Trump on December 25, 2020, to wish him a Merry Christmas, and Trump turned his attention to January 6 and his request that Pence reject the electoral votes cast according to states’ demands for removal. Pence rebutted, saying he had no power to overturn the election results.
This was not the case, according to reports.
Pence may reject Electoral College certification from states where vote rigging is rampant. Pence should have informed each state’s Secretary of State by January 6 that they must submit a valid Electoral College certificate by that date.
If Congress didn’t establish a commission to examine their charges of fraud, a group of Republicans declared in January 2021 that they would reject electors of states that contested. Vice President Pence backed the initiative after hearing charges of voting fraud.
Recent reports show incidents in New Hampshire when voters accused Mike Pence of ‘selling out.’
Pence has been attacked for admitting in an interview that he could have rejected fraudulent electoral votes. But he said it would have resulted in the issue being given to the House of Representatives, and genuine anarchy would have followed.
