The committee said the mob attacking the Capitol got within 40 feet of Pence.
The House's Jan. 6 committee held its third public hearing of the month, on Thursday, with the focus on the pressure campaign on then-Vice President Mike Pence.
The committee detailed the efforts of then-President Donald Trump and his allies before and on Jan. 6, 2021, to get Pence to reject electoral votes Congress was certifying -- as part of what it says was a plot to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
"Despite how you may not think it's important, send us what you think," he said. "I thank those that sent us evidence, for their bravery and patriotism."
With searing new evidence, the committee on Thursday sought to draw a direct link between Trump's actions and the Capitol attack, which it maintained put Vice President Mike Pence's life at serious risk.
Vice Chair Liz Cheney, in her closing statement, previewed evidence still to come, promising information in their next hearing on Tuesday about Trump's efforts to apply pressure to Republican slate legislators, election officials and even federal officials to corrupt the electoral count vote.
"We will examine the Trump team's determination to transmit material false electoral slates from multiple states to officials of the executive and legislative branches of our government," she said, and "the pressures put on state legislators to convene to reverse lawful election results."
After establishing Pence on Thursday as an "honorable man" who had the courage to carry out his constitutional duty on Jan. 6 despite a pressure campaign and threats to his life, Cheney ended by drawing a stark contrast with Trump.
“An honorable man receiving the information and advice that Mr. Trump received from his campaign experts and his staff, a man who loved his country more than himself would have conceded this election," she said. "Indeed, we know that a number of President Trump's closest aides urged him to do so."
Trump-allied attorney John Eastman, in the days after Jan. 6, emailed Rudy Giuliani about a possible pardon.
"I've decided that I should be on the pardon list, if that is still in the works," Eastman wrote to Giuliani, the committee showed.
Eastman wasn't pardoned and when he was was deposed by the House panel, he pleaded the fifth 100 times, Rep. Pete Aguilar noted.
Showing video footage of Secret Service agents rushing Pence down stairs in the Capitol, the committee said Pence was in hiding for four and a half hours, while, at times, rioters were just 40 feet away.
Greg Jacob, a former adviser to Pence who was with the vice president on Jan. 6 told the hearing room, "I could hear the din of the mob as we moved, but I don't think I was aware," when told how close they got.
"Approximately 40 feet, that's all there was, 40 feet between the vice president and the mob," said Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., telling Jacob, "Forty feet is the distance from me to you roughly."
"Make no mistake about the fact that the vice president's life was in danger," Aguilar said, arguing the "big lie" directly contributed to the Capitol attack and put Pence's life at serious risk. "A recent court filing by the Department of Justice explains that a confidential informant from the Proud Boys told the FBI that the Proud Boys would've killed Mike Pence, if given the chance."
