Former President Donald Trump accused former Vice President Mike Pence in a court filing Monday of trying to ingratiate himself with prosecutors investigating the 2020 election as a way to get out of facing separate criminal charges for retaining classified documents — though an ABC News report on Pence’s testimony Tuesday suggests that while the ex-VP had harsh comments about Trump and his attorneys, he also emphasized his loyalty to the former president.
Trump accused Pence of trying to “curry favor” with prosecutors in a court filing late Monday night, pointing to the fact Pence was under investigation by the DOJ at the time for classified White House documents found at his home, and that prosecutors ended the probe in June without bringing any charges against the former VP.
Pence had an incentive to “[provide] information that is consistent with the Biden Administration’s preferred, and false, narrative” in the DOJ’s investigation into the aftermath of the 2020 election, Trump’s attorneys alleged, so that he could avoid criminal charges in his documents case.
Pence, whom Trump pressured to block Congress from certifying the 2020 election on January 6, 2021, testified to the grand jury as part of the DOJ’s investigation into the election’s aftermath, which ultimately resulted in federal prosecutors bringing felony charges against Trump.
According to sources cited Tuesday by ABC News, Pence told prosecutors he believed Trump’s attorneys who pushed to overturn the results were “cranks” who “did a great disservice to the president and a great disservice to the country,” and that “there was no idea more un-American” than Trump’s claims Pence could single handedly block the election results.
While Pence reportedly said Trump “acted recklessly” on January 6 and nearly pushed the U.S. into a “constitutional crisis,” the former vice president also reportedly told prosecutors he “never believed” Trump meant for the riot at the Capitol that day to turn violent, and he remained loyal to Trump at the time.
Pence’s spokesperson has not yet responded to a request for comment, and a Trump spokesperson told ABC News about Pence’s reported testimony, “Tens of millions of Americans, including Vice President Pence … have had grave and serious concerns about the legitimacy of the … 2020 Presidential Election, further proving that the lawless indictment against President Trump should be summarily dismissed.”
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