China News Agency, Washington, June 16 (Reporter Chen Mengtong) The U.S. House of Representatives Select Committee continued to hold public hearings on the Capitol Hill riot investigation on the 16th, focusing on a key figure in the riots-then Vice President Mike Pence.
Greg Jacob, who served as Pence's legal counsel at the time, and Michael Luttig, a former judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and Pence's informal counsel, attended the hearing that day.
The committee also used the testimony of the two Republicans to refute Trump's lawyers' claims that the vice president has the right to deny or suspend the election certification process.
The hearing also revealed details of Pence's discussions with his team about the verification process for electoral votes, and for the first time released images of Pence being forced to flee to safety amid the riots.
According to the procedure, the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States must hold a joint meeting to count and certify the results of the electoral votes for the presidential election, and the vice president shall announce the elected candidates as the chairman of the joint meeting.
This process, as the "final step" of the US election, is usually only symbolic.
"Trump wants Pence to do something no other vice president has ever done." Democratic Representative Thomson, the chairman of the select committee, pointed out in the opening that Trump wanted Pence to reject these electoral votes or announce Trump's General wins, or the electoral votes are sent back to the states for a recount.
"Pence said no, he resisted the pressure, he knew it was illegal."
The vice chairman of the committee, the Republican Congressman Cheney, reminded the public to pay attention to the two main points of the hearing that day: First, Trump has been told many times that the vice president lacks a legal basis for refusing to certify the results of the election, and that as early as 2021 Pence's position was known on January 4, 2008; the second is that Trump tried to pressure Pence in various ways, including continuing to denounce Pence after the riots.
The US "Capitol Hill" commented that a lot of energy was devoted to the hearing that day to show that the so-called "theories" of Trump and his team were widely rejected, and legal professionals inside and outside the White House had warned of possible "street violence". .
Pence was within 40 feet of the mob when he evacuated, according to details disclosed at the hearing.
Jacobs, who was evacuated with Pence at the time, testified that he could hear the "roar" of mobs nearby.
Jacobs said that as early as around December 7, 2020, Pence discussed with him the process of certifying election results.
"We reviewed the text, history, and frankly, common sense confirmed the vice president's first instinct on this point. There is no valid basis for assuming that the vice president has the power to influence the outcome of the election."
Lutiger said that if Pence obeyed Trump's orders at the time, the United States would immediately be paralyzed in a crisis. "In my opinion, this will be the first constitutional crisis since the founding of the United States." .
Aguilar, a Democrat from California, was the main questioner at the hearing.
He said Trump was clinging to a "dangerous theory" that he believed would keep him in office.
"We saw what happened when the then President of the United States weaponized this theory."
After nearly a year of investigation and evidence collection, the U.S. House of Representatives Special Committee started a series of public hearings from June 9, revealing the details of the investigation of the Capitol Hill riots with different themes and perspectives.
The day was the third in a series of hearings.
As scheduled, the hearing will continue on June 21 and 23.
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