Jan. 6 hearing told Trump knew plan to pressure Pence was illegal, went ahead anyway

The House select committee has kicked off its third of seven public hearings slated for this month.

Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., gaveled in the hearing just after 1 p.m.

“Donald Trump wanted Mike Pence to do something no other vice president has ever done," Thompson said in his opening remarks. "The former president wanted Pence to reject the votes and either declare Trump the winner or send the votes back to the states to be counted again. Mike Pence said no. He resisted the pressure. He knew it was illegal. He knew it was wrong. We are fortunate for Mr. Pence's courage on Jan. 6. Our democracy came dangerously close to catastrophe. That courage put him in tremendous danger."

Former top Pence adviser Greg Jacob will tell the committee that his team came to the conclusion that the vice president’s role in counting electoral votes is “purely ministerial,” according to a copy of his written statement obtained by ABC News.

“The law is not a plaything for Presidents or judges to use to remake the world in their preferred image,” the written statement reads.

“When our elected and appointed leaders break, twist, and fail to enforce our laws in order to achieve their partisan ends, or to accomplish frustrated policy objectives they consider existentially important, they are breaking America,” the statement reads.

ABC News' Katherine Faulders contributed to this report.

Committee chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., told reporters Thursday that the panel will "soon" invite Ginni Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, to speak with the panel.

Thompson declined to give any details about public or private testimony, or when the committee would formally ask Ginni Thomas to appear.

The House panel is in possession of emails between former Trump lawyer John Eastman and Ginni Thomas, sources confirm to ABC News. The hearing Thursday will explore Eastman's alleged role to pressure Pence to unilaterally reject state electors after the 2020 election.

-ABC News' Katherine Faulders

Pence himself will not appear before the committee, but his adviser Greg Jacob -- who was with the former vice president the day of the Capitol insurrection -- is slated to testify. Jacobs, who is an attorney, pushed back against legal theories that Pence could single-handedly stop Joe Biden from becoming president.

Former federal judge Michael Luttig will also testify in front of lawmakers. Luttig previously told ABC News that if Pence had attempted to keep Trump in power, he would’ve "plunged the country into a constitutional crisis of the highest order."

In addition to the live witnesses, the committee is expected to include pre-recorded video testimony from Marc Short, Pence's former chief of staff, and others who have been deposed behind closed doors.