January 6 Hearings: Mike Pence Chose Constitution Over Trump Despite Pressure

The continuation of the January 6 hearings revealed that former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence's role in the confirmation of Joe Biden as the 46^th President of the United States is much more important than previously thought. The House committee investigating the January 6 insurrection has revealed new details about former President Donald Trump putting public and private pressure on Pence to try and stop him from certifying the results of the 2020 U.S. elections.

But despite the severe pressure Mike Pence faced from Trump and several other Republicans, including the violent insurrectionist mob chanting "Hang Mike Pence!" outside the Capitol, the then-Vice President remained firm and chose to certify the elections, thereby choosing to go with the constitutional mandate rather than submit to Trump and his allies.

According to the findings of the panel, Trump wanted Pence to reject the outcome of the elections. This is something that no vice president has ever done in the history of the United States. The panel's Chairman Bennie Thompson also stated that Pence knew what Trump wanted him to do was illegal and wrong.

Mike Pence Emerges as Unlikely Hero in the January 6 Hearings

While the hearings are certainly focused on Trump's role in the insurrection, the panel took a more detailed look at how the former president pressured Mike Pence during the lead-up to January 6. The former vice president, despite being at odds with many Democrats on various key issues such as immigration and LGBTQ rights, gained much praise from the majority-Democrat panel for his actions in standing firm behind his duties despite the pressure. He has emerged as an unlikely hero of sorts during the insurrection, as his actions have averted a potential constitutional crisis.

The panel presented that Trump painted Pence as a turncoat, targeting him in his bid to hold onto power. The former president would also berate Pence during a phone call on the morning of January 6. This was all part of his pressure campaign on Pence and force him to stop certifying the elections.

However, legal experts have pointed out that vice presidents have no constitutional authority to stop the certification of elections. The panel also pointed out that Trump himself was already advised by his lawyers of this, and that there was no legal way to overturn the elections.

Trump lawyer John Eastman promoted the idea of Pence overturning the elections, though he himself advised against this. However, Trump liked the idea and still went forward with his pressure campaign on Pence despite his lawyers advising otherwise.

Pence lawyer Greg Jacob appeared before the committee on Thursday, together with former Circuit Court Judge J. Michael Luttig. During his testimony, Jacob stated that Eastman himself has already told Trump that the idea was illegal on January 4, 2020. However, several days later, Eastman would still be advocating that Pence move forward with overturning the elections.

Trump Lawyers Divided Over What Pence Should Do

While Eastman advocated for Pence overturning the election despite its illegality, several Trump lawyers have spoken up against the plan.

The January 6 committee played a clip of Trump White House lawyer Eric Herschmann discussing the plan with Eastman. Herschmann told Eastman that the plan was dangerous, and could cause riots and violence all over the country. The Trump legal team did indeed take violence into consideration, as stated by witness testimony.

Jacob stated that Pence focused on his duties to the constitution as vice president. Jacob also stated that Pence rejected the idea that one man, the vice president, could overturn the will of the American people.

Trump himself was apparently disgusted by Pence choosing to go against his wishes. According to Julie Radford, a former chief of staff to Ivanka Trump, the former president called Pence "the 'p' word." Ivanka Trump herself would also testify, and would state that his discussion with Pence on January 6 was heated and that he used a different tone than usual with his vice president.

For his part during the hearings, Luttig, a leading conservative legal scholar, stated that if Pence had went forward with the idea, it would have been tantamount to a revolution and would cause the country's "first constitutional crisis."

The committee has planned seven sessions for the January 6 Hearings, with the Thursday session being the third one.

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Written by: Rick Martin