Warning: This hearing may include footage of violence and strong language.
The chairman of the Jan. 6 committee said Thursday that former President Donald Trump attempted to overturn the outcome of the 2020 election by pressuring his former Vice President Mike Pence into going along with a “unlawful and unconstitutional scheme.”
“Donald Trump wanted Mike Pence to do something no other vice president has ever done,” Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said in his opening remarks during the third Jan. 6 hearing on June 16. “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.”
Pence said no, Thompson added. “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.”
In the year since its creation, the committee has conducted more than 1,000 interviews, seeking critical information and documents from people witness to, or involved in, the violence that day. The committee postponed a hearing scheduled for June 15 that was meant to focus on Trump’s efforts to replace Attorney General Bill Barr, who did not support his claims of voter fraud after the election.
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