Former Vice President Mike Pence has responded to special counsel Jack Smith’s latest indictment of former President Donald Trump, asserting that his onetime boss had “demanded [he] choose between him and the Constitution.”
“Today’s indictment serves as an important reminder: Anyone who puts himself over the Constitution should never be President of the United States,” Mr. Pence said in his statement.
“I chose the Constitution and I always will,” he said.
Like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, whose statement has met with criticism from some conservatives for being insufficiently vigorous in defense of Mr. Trump, Mr. Pence indicated that he hadn’t read the indictment in detail.
Mr. Smith’s indictment alleges that the former president conspired to defraud the United States and to deprive citizens of the “free exercise” of constitutional rights—in this case, “the right to vote and to have one’s vote counted.”
In addition, Mr. Trump is accused of both conspiring to obstruct an official proceeding—the electoral vote certification on Jan. 6, 2021—and of attempting to obstruct, and obstructing, that official proceeding.
Mr. Pence’s alleged actions in connection with the contested 2020 election recur throughout the indictment, as do Mr. Trump’s alleged responses to those actions.
Notably, the indictment claims that when Mr. Pence told Mr. Trump that he wouldn’t proceed with the president’s plan to block electoral vote certification on Jan. 6, 2021, Mr. Trump warned that he “would have to publicly criticize [Pence].”
“Upon learning of this, the Vice President’s Chief of Staff was concerned for the Vice President’s safety and alerted the head of the Vice President’s Secret Service detail,” the indictment states.
Contrary to what’s claimed in some initial posts on social media, Mr. Pence’s chief of staff was Marc Short, not Mark Meadows.
In addition, the indictment alleges that Mr. Trump told Mr. Pence that he was “too honest” when Mr. Pence said he lacked the authority as vice president to dispute results from the electoral college.
The charges mark Mr. Smith’s second indictment of the former commander-in-chief and the third set of felony charges that Mr. Trump now faces in the midst of a bid for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
Mr. Smith previously indicted Mr. Trump on charges related to the retention of classified documents from his presidency.
In early April, Mr. Trump was arraigned in a Manhattan courtroom and charged with violating New York business law.
He has pleaded not guilty to both sets of charges.
“The former president is entitled to the presumption of innocence, but with this indictment, his candidacy means more talk about January 6 and more distractions,” Mr. Pence said in his statement.
“Our country is more important than one man. Our Constitution is more important than any one man’s career,” the statement reads.
Mr. Pence vowed that, as president, he would “restore a threshold of integrity and civility in public life so we can bring real solutions to the challenges plaguing our nation.”
The former vice president launched his bid for the White House in early June, at about the same time as former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, another former Trump ally who has lately distinguished himself as a prominent critic of the man who made his name as a Manhattan real estate developer.
Mr. Pence’s response to the indictment contrasted starkly with that of entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.
“This is un-American & I commit to pardoning Trump for this indictment,” the biotech entrepreneur and anti-“woke” investor vowed in a statement to The Epoch Times.
Mr. DeSantis was more equivocal, saying he hadn’t reviewed the indictment in question. He didn’t commit to a pardon.
“One of the reasons our country is in decline is the politicization of the rule of law. No more excuses—I will end the weaponization of the federal government,” he wrote in a post on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter.
In another X post, Trump ally Kari Lake publicly urged the former president’s 2024 rivals on the Republican side of the aisle to leave the race and “rally around our nominee, President Donald J. Trump.”
“This is a battle that a unified Republican Party must fight. Otherwise, we will lose this country forever,” she wrote.
Pence is a traitor! He should face charges for treason.
Pence is going nowhere fast unless he runs as a Democrat, otherwise it’s straight down to the bottom of the well for him, guaranteed!!!
Tucker ripped Pence a new asshole when interviewing all the republican candidates last month and probably singlehandedly derailed his campaign!!!!!! I think Pence knows it and is resorting to just being a snake in the grass grabbing up whatever he can, he is no Christian, he’s a pos in need of a sledgehammer to the skull.
Pence is the SINGLE reason why the 2020 election was ALLOWED to be RIGGED AND STOLEN.
Why (on Jan. 6th) did the V.P. (Pence) certify electoral votes from States he knew utilized fraudulent and unconstitutional processes, practices, and procedures to tally ballots? Why did the SCOTUS refuse to even hear the case brought before it by the AG of Texas for the 8 States which had CREDIBLE, DIRECT, IRREFUTABLE, AND OVERWHELMING evidence that the 2020 General election was RIGGED? How is it, that the highest court in the land is allowed to NOT do their jobs? How is a court allowed to disregard CREDIBLE IRREFUTABLE OVERWHELMING EVIDENCE which would overturn an election, and tell a sitting President he ‘has no standing’?
BECAUSE THEY WERE THREATENED!
Pence was threatened w/ death to his ENTIRE family, and then him, (only so he could watch them die, one by one). Members of the SCOTUS were THREATENED W/ DEATH of their families, (and in the same manner), if they acted Constitutionally.
I stated ALL this just after it happened and was labeled a conspiracy theorist. After Bidens’ incendiary rant on Thursday, September 1st, in which he (literally) declared war on ANY American who didn’t agree w/ the White House narrative, I started getting answers back from those who labeled me a C.T., stating “its’ possible you were correct”.
This isn’t an ‘I told you so’ post, nor is it a self-righteous vindication. It’s just that this was the ONLY plausible answer to why the people in those positions didn’t rightfully and Constitutionally facilitate the actions to which they were legally bound.
ANYONE who disputes the FACT that the 2020 election was RIGGED AND STOLEN is either a conditioned apathetic, in hopeless denial, or just too ignorant to comprehend the obvious.
I believe it’s time for conservatives to start doing some threatening of our own. Every single person in this current ILLEGITIMATE ‘Administration’ deserves nothing less than a bullet in the head (for treason).
That said: I’m done w/ this bullshit – ALL of it. I’m 71 years old, have lived a good, long life, and have no more patience to go through the (so-called) ‘legal’ means to eliminate these dictators. They don’t play by the rules, why should we? Therefore, I will do whatever it takes before they completely destroy the country. My ancestors knew how to take care of business, (the way it’s supposed to be taken care of) – swiftly and permanently. Just get me to w/i 100 feet of ANY person in this current ILLEGITIMATE ‘Administration’ – BAM! DONE! Consequences? I couldn’t care less. I may go to jail – but they’ll still be dead…and (to me), that’s all that counts. Besides, at this point, the words ‘life in prison’ are (pretty much) – meaningless.
(Are you listening DOJ/Gestapo? When you come for me – BE PREPARED TO DIE).