A new photo shows Mike Pence and his family hiding in a Senate office just minutes after his evacuation on Jan. 6 when a mob stormed the Capitol.
The image, taken by a White House photographer and released by ABC Wednesday night, shows the Vice President, First Lady Karen, his daughter Charlotte and fellow Republican Congressman Greg, seated and waiting as the chaos unfolds.
Karen is seen closing the curtains so rioters can’t see in while the Vice President, Charlotte, and Greg sit in chairs and wait.
In the hours before, Greg Pence had voted against confirming Joe Biden’s election victory and Trump supporters could be heard chanting “hang Mike Pence.”
Later, Pence and his family were forced out of the office and moved to another location in the Capitol complex as the rioters broke into the Senate.
The new image emerged on the eve of the committee’s Jan. 6 hearing and focused on Pence and his team and their actions before and after the riot.
His lawyers are also expected to testify how they responded to Donald Trump’s claims that the election was rigged and stolen.
A new photo shows Mike Pence and his family hiding in a Senate office just minutes after his evacuation on Jan. 6 when a mob stormed the Capitol. The image captured by a White House shows the Vice President, First Lady Karen, his daughter Charlotte and his Republican Congressman Greg, seated and waiting as the chaos unfolds
On Friday night, Pence’s former chief of staff confirmed on Wednesday that he had warned the Secret Service the night before the January 6 riot that Pence could be in danger at the Capitol.
Marc Short testified for more than eight hours behind closed doors before the House committee investigating the riot in January. Portions of this testimony are expected to be presented at Thursday morning’s hearing.
This hearing will focus on Donald Trump’s efforts to pressure Pence into refusing to count and certify the election count. It is the vice president’s ceremonial role to oversee the formal confirmation of the presidential election.
Short confirmed to CNN that he spoke to the Secret Service on the night of Jan. 5.
“Thousands of people coming to Washington hoping for a different outcome — I think it was important that they were made aware of that,” he said of his conversation with security.
“But I didn’t have any special intelligence. I had no idea the Capitol would be attacked like this,” he told Wolf Blitzer on Wednesday night.
Greg Jacob, who served as Pence’s attorney, and retired US Circuit Court Judge J. Michael Luttig, who was an informal counsel, are scheduled to testify in person at the third of what is expected to be six public hearings the committee has scheduled.
Committee assistants told CNN that Thursday’s hearing will focus on how Trump has been driving the pressure campaign against Pence, even though attorneys in the White House Attorney’s office have told him Pence does not have the authority to unilaterally undermine the election results.
Former Pence chief of staff Marc Short confirms he warned the Secret Service on Jan. 5 of a possible threat from Mike Pence
On Jan. 6, then-Vice President Mike Pence was evacuated from the Senate as rioters stormed the Capitol
However, Short would not confirm what New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman reported in her forthcoming book, Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America — that Short expected Trump to publicly turn against Pence , which would pose a potential risk to the vice president.
He told CNN he thinks Trump was badly served with advice after the election.
“I think ultimately the buck stops with the president. I also think there are people around the President who I think have served him very badly and given him bad advice,” he said.
Short also said he was unconvinced by the committee’s finding that Trump agreed with MAGA supporters calling for Pence to be hanged.
During Thursday night’s hearing, Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, who serves on the panel investigating the riot, said of Trump, “The President was aware of the calls from the rioters to hang Mike Pence,” and responded with that sentiment, “Maybe they did.” our supporters did the right idea.’ Mike Pence “deserves” it.
Her words gasped in the hearing room.
“I NEVER said or even considered ‘hanging Mike Pence.’ This is either a made up story by someone who wants to be a star or FAKE NEWS!” Trump wrote on Truth Social the next day.
Short said he wasn’t convinced Trump wanted Pence hanged.
“I’m not even convinced of that. I know what the committee said. I also know the President has denied that,” he told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer.
In the days leading up to the Jan. 6 certification, Trump delivered a series of tweets demanding that Pence use his position to prevent Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s election defeat.
Pence had already told the President he had no such power.
Short told CNN that Pence had fulfilled his constitutional duty in overseeing the confirmation of the election.
“He did his duty. He swore an oath to uphold the Constitution. He swore an oath to God to uphold the Constitution just as our men and women in uniform do,” he said.
Mike Pence, in a ceremonial Vice Presidential role, oversaw the formal certification of Electoral College results
