Thursday’s hearing revealed that former Vice President Mike Pence’s Secret Service members feared for their lives during an attack on the Capitol. CBS News.
An interview with the witness was played during the hearing, relaying that Pence’s former detail radioed goodbyes to their families during the attack, per a witness who testified anonymously but was described as a “national security professional”That was the White House’s employee on the day of the attack.
The witness replied,”The members of the VP detail at this time were starting to fear for their own lives,”There was also a lot more shouting. “very personal calls”According to the outlet, the decision was made to take control of the radio traffic.
Witnesses have stated that the former Vice President at Capitol agents offered continuous support to the former Vice President. “reassurances” even as the violence escalated, saying “They were only yelling.” in reference to the mob.
During the hearing, the chat log from staff on Trump’s National Security Council — which details the situation at the Capitol in real-time — was disclosed.
This eighth hearing focused on the 187 minutes on January 6 from when the former president finished his speech at the Ellipse to when he posted a tweet at 4:17 p.m. telling rioters to leave the Capitol.
According to the log that was shared:
- 2:13 p.m: “Beginning to kick in windows in the capitol. 2 windows were kicked in.” and then “Capital is broken”
- 2:16 p.m: “VP being pulled,” was entered
- 2:18 p.m: “Decision in the next 2-3 minutes, or they may not move. VP might be stuck at Capitol”
- 2:24 p.m: “The service at the Capitol does not sound right now.”
“It was very disturbing. “I don’t like to talk about it,” an anonymous witness stated of the entry at 2:24 p.m.
“…but there were calls to say goodbye to family members and so forth. It was getting – for whatever the reason was on the ground, the VP detail thought that this was about to get very ugly.”
According to CBS News, in past hearings the select committee has detailed how Trump aimed to put pressure on Pence, hoping to unilaterally overturn the results of the election during the joint session of Congress that convened January 6.
The goal was for this to happen by either rejecting state electoral votes or returning them to the state legislatures to replace their electors.
Because Pence did not oblige, he and the former president had a tenuous phone call the morning of the attack where Pence was called a “wimp,” According to testimony.
This insult preceded Trumps’ tweet saying the former Vice lacked “courage.
Sarah Matthews — a former White House deputy press secretary who resigned after the attack — testified in-person Thursday about her experiences in the White House during the Capitol assault and previously told the committee in a recorded interview that Trump’s tweet only fueled rioters, according to the outlet.
According to CBS News, the rioters surged inside the Capitol and chanted “hang Mike Pence,” overwhelming law enforcement after the president’s tweet.
According to the outlet, this resulted in the Secret Service moving Pence’s ceremonial Senate office from the Capitol Complex to a secure location.
CBS reported that CBS showed photos of Pence at an earlier hearing. He was seen in the secure location on his cell phone, then watching a video recording from Trump exhorting the mob to leave.
The witness replied, “It sounds like that we came very close to either Service having to use lethal options or worse. At that point, I don’t know. Is the VP compromised?” according to the outlet.
“Is the detail – like, I don’t know. Like, we didn’t have visibility, but it doesn’t – if they’re screaming and saying things, like, say good-bye to the family, like the floor needs to know this is going to a whole another level soon.”