Source: CNN News
On January 6, 2021, the United States of America encountered the attack on the Capitol Building
by the supporters of former president Donald Trump. Supporters were enraged by the results of the 2020 presidential elections, in which Trump's opponent Mr. Joe Biden won the polls from a democratic party. Rioters wished to overturn his defeat by disrupting the Joint Session of Congress assembled to count electoral votes that would formalize the victory of President-elect Joe Biden.
It is reported that Mr. Trump incited his followers to demobilize the Capitol on the morning of January 6 in his previous speeches. This Capitol insurrection is investigated by the House select committee, which on Thursday detailed how former President Donald Trump created pressure on the then vice-president Mike Pence to overturn the 2020 presidential elections by going against the US laws. Mr. Pence refused
to follow his plan and went against the president's will, saving American Democracy.
On Thursday, two witnesses advising members of Pence's team testified: Greg Jacob, Pence's former counsel, and J. Michael Luttig, a highly respected conservative jurist and retired federal judge who advised Pence in the aftermath of the 2020 election. The committee observed how conservative Trump attorney John Eastman made and suggested a legal theory to overturn the results of the presidential elections by Pence, using his vice-presidential powers to block the certification of the elections unilaterally. This theory was accepted by President Trump, even though it was rejected by Trump's White House attorneys and Pence's team.
Trump continued knowing the fact that this theory was Illegal.
It was revealed on Thursday that President Trump was clear that this theory proposed by Eastman was illegal, but he continued to persist with his plan.
According to witness testimony, the lawyer who proposed the plan and Pence told Trump that the plan to overturn the election results was unlawful. Committee members accused Trump of his intentions by violating federal law and going against the constitution.
In a videotaped deposition, Pence's chief of staff Marc Short said Pence advised Trump many times and that he didn't have the legal or constitutional authority to overturn the results.
Mike Pence and Violence on January 6
According to the statements of rioters, they were enraged by the speeches Donald Trump gave at his rallies. Trump claimed to his supporters that the election was rigged against him. He made his supporters believe that Pence had the power to justify the results and save democracy. Trump openly criticized Pence in his tweets while he was under attack. He said Pence didn't dare to do what should have been done.
The committee emphasized that Pence was in real danger on the day of the Capitol attack, as the crowd was just 40 feet away from him, shouting his name in anger for not overturning elections as said by President Trump. Counsel blamed Trump for this adversity. Committee member Rep. Pete Aguilar, a California Democrat, said that the Vice President Pence
was a focus of the violent attack.
Written by By Ekta Bansal
Relations between President Trump and Pence grew intensely sour after this misconduct of situations. Pence didn't give up on his responsibilities and didn't bow down to unconstitutional
demands by President Trump and Eastman.
Eastman, the conservative attorney of Trump, was highly determined to overturn this election. Despite being criticized by White House lawyers and Pence's team, he made every effort to pressure Pence despite being attacked. Eastman was pursuing efforts to block the election result, even after the riot at the Capitol, the committee revealed.
Even though the committee was set up to discuss the past events of 2020, it went to great lengths to unveil the potential threats to American democracy by Trump and his supporters.
Jacob said Trump's plan was antithetical to everything in our democracy and would've thrown the nation into an unprecedented constitutional crisis. The committee says to put forward legislative proposals to close the loopholes that Trump and Eastman tried to exploit. They committed to safeguarding the transition of power. However,
there is bipartisan interest in passing some of these proposals.
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