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

The committee said the mob attacking the Capitol got within 40 feet of Pence.

Last Updated: June 16, 2022, 4:09 PM EDT

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.

Jun 16, 2022, 4:09 PM EDT

Cheney previews next hearing

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.

An image of former President Donald Trump and his family is displayed on a screen at the hearing where the House Select Committee investigates the Jan. 6 Attack on the US Capitol, in Washington, D.C., June 16, 2022.
Drew Angerer/Getty Images

"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."

Jun 16, 2022, 4:03 PM EDT

Eastman emailed Rudy Giuliani to be on 'pardon list,' committee says

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.

Jun 16, 2022, 3:51 PM EDT

Pence's life in danger as he hid for hours with rioters 40 feet away: Committee

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.

PHOTO: Vice President Mike Pence is seen looking at a tweet by President Donald Trump on his phone in an underground parking garage of the U.S. Capitol complex on Jan. 6, 2022,during a U.S. House Select Committee to Investigate the Jan 6 Attack hearing.
Vice President Mike Pence is seen looking at a tweet by President Donald Trump on his phone in an underground parking garage of the U.S. Capitol complex as he refuses to get into his motorcade and be evacuated from the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2022, in a photo shown on screen during the third public hearing of the U.S. House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the United States Capitol, on Capitol Hill, in Washington, June 16, 2022.
Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

"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."

Jun 16, 2022, 3:50 PM EDT

Trump attorney pressured Pence to delay certification even after the riot, email shows

John Eastman, an attorney advising the Trump campaign, sent an email after the riot at the U.S. Capitol to once again pressure Pence to violate the Electoral Count Act, according to the committee's presentation Thursday.

“I implore you to consider one more relatively minor violation and adjourn for ten days to allow the legislatures to finish their investigations,” Eastman wrote to Pence adviser Greg Jacob at 11:44 p.m. that day.

Jacob said he relayed Eastman’s message to Pence, who responded that the email was “rubber room stuff.”

“What did you interpret that to mean?” Rep. Pete Aguilar asked Jacob.

Jacob replied he translated that to mean Pence was calling it “certifiably crazy.”

Greg Jacob, who was counsel to former Vice President Mike Pence, testifies as the House select committee investigates the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol during a hearing at the Capitol in Washington, June 16, 2022.
Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

Former White House lawyer Eric Herschmann told the committee that on Jan. 7, 2021, after Pence certified Joe Biden's victory, Eastman called him to talk about a possible appeal in Georgia.

"I said to him, 'Are you out of your f------ mind?' I said, 'I only want to hear two words coming out of your mouth for now: orderly transition," Herschmann recalled.

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