US Capitol assault committee to question former Vice President Pence
Washington, Jan 7 (EFE).- The president of the United States congressional committee investigating the assault on the Capitol in January 2021 revealed Friday he would ask former Vice President Mike Pence, who opposed the protesters, to make a voluntary declaration.
In an interview with the NPR network, Congressman Bennie Thompson, Democratic committee chairman, said the appearance would be requested before the end of the month.
On Jan. 6, 2021, a mob of former President Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol building in an unsuccessful attempt to stop Democrat Joe Biden’s victory certification of the November 2020 presidential election.
During the assault, Pence posted a Twitter message asking to “stop” the “violence and destruction” on Capitol Hill and demanded that protesters “leave the building.”
Pence, who as vice president also held the Senate presidency, was allegedly pressured by Trump to stop Biden’s certification but said the constitution did not allow it, making him the target of many of the former president’s supporters.
“The vice president was in a difficult situation. The president was putting a lot of pressure on him to break the law and he stood firm,” Congressman Thompson said in the interview.
The congressional committee is made up of nine members, only two of whom are from the Republican Party. The investigation is merely informative because it has no capacity to sanction anyone.
In parallel, the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia has filed charges against more than 700 people who participated in the assault on the Capitol. Crimes range from physically attacking police officers to preventing the exercise of their functions, to destroying government property and entering a building with restricted access.
On the anniversary of the assault, commemorated Thursday, incumbent President Joe Biden accused Trump of building a “web of lies” about the elections because of his “hurt ego” by losing the election. EFE
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