Pence is not ‘convinced’ that Trump’s actions on Jan. 6 were criminal — as Democratic Rep. Schiff says he can ‘imagine no more serious crime’
- Former VP Mike Pence is not convinced that Trump committed a crime on Jan. 6
- Democratic Rep. Schiff said Trump’s actions during the U.S. Capitol riot were the most egregious and “serious” of all other charges
- Special Counsel Jack Smith sent a letter informing Trump that he is a target of the investigation into the January 6 attack on the Capitol
Mike Pence says he is not “convinced” Donald Trump committed a crime on Jan. 6, 2021, as Democrats mount mounting pressure to prosecute the ex-president in connection with the U.S. Capitol bombing.
The 2024 hopeful also said the “judgment” of his former boss’s behavior on that fateful day should be left to voters in the 2024 election to decide — though the special counsel investigating that attack sent a target letter to the former CEO this month.
It comes as Democrats ramp up rhetoric against Trump as the 2024 race standings indicate he will one day be against the GOP nominee for president.
Rep. Adam Schiff, who helped lead the House Select Committee investigating the uprising at the Capitol, said he couldn’t imagine “more serious behavior” than what Trump did during and in the aftermath of Jan. 6, 2021.
Meanwhile, Representative Nancy Pelosi insisted Trump is not above the law and said the “facts” of the case have been made public.
Former Vice President and 2024 hopeful Mike Pence said on Sunday he is not convinced Donald Trump committed a crime on Jan. 6, 2021
The comments come after Special Counsel Jack Smith sent a letter to Trump informing him he is a target of the investigation into the January 6 U.S. Capitol riot
“The president’s words were reckless that day — I had no right to overturn an election,” Pence admitted during an interview with CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday. “But while his words were reckless, from what I know, I’m still not convinced they were criminal.”
“Obviously I didn’t attend every meeting,” he added, but claimed, “The Justice Department has lost the trust of the American people.”
“In one town hall after another in New Hampshire, I heard a deep concern about perceptions of an unequal treatment of the law,” the former vice president said. “And I think another indictment of the former president will only add to that feeling among the American people.”
“I’d rather these issues and the judgment of his conduct on January 6 be left to the American people in the upcoming primaries, and I’ll leave it at that.”
Pelosi was not happy with what the 2024 hopeful said.
She said in an interview on CNN following Pence’s that “the president is not above the law.”
“I’m afraid what I’ve heard the vice president say before, as much as I admire him — he was a hero that day, Mike Pence was — the president is not above the law,” she added when asked if she believes Trump committed a crime on Jan. 6.
“We saw what happened. It was very clear. It’s heartbreaking,” she continued to CNN host Dana Bash. “I mean, the courts will act. He’s innocent until proven guilty.”
Rep. Schiff of California added that the Jan. 6 charges could be the “most serious” Trump of all the ongoing investigations into him — including last month’s indictment in which he was charged with taking classified documents to Mar-a-Lago.
Nancy Pelosi (right) said on Sunday, “I’m afraid what I’ve heard the vice president say before, as much as I admire him… the president is not above the law. We saw what happened. It was very clear. It’s heartbreaking’
Meanwhile, Democratic Representative Adam Schiff said Trump’s actions on Jan. 6, 2021, were the most egregious of any other indictment. It’s hard to imagine a president engaging in more serious misconduct. So it’s the most serious thing he’s dealt with so far,” he told MSNBC
“It’s hard to imagine a president engaging in more serious misconduct,” Schiff told MSNBC. “So it’s the most serious thing he’s dealt with so far.”
“The Mar-a-Lago document case posed a threat to our national security. It’s very serious. Clearly, New York’s multiple counts of business fraud are serious, too,” the California Democrat explained. “But this is essentially a series of charges centering on his attempts to stop the peaceful transfer of power for the first time in our history.”
Schiff claims that Trump’s “thinly disguised threats of violence” is what he does when “the law catches up to him.”
“He’s done it repeatedly now,” he concluded.