Mike Pence Secret Service agents feared for their lives, said goodbyes to family: Jan. 6 committee
A Mike Pence security official testified that team members' calls to family were 'disturbing' to recall
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Former Vice President Mike Pence and his security detail feared for their lives during the Capitol riots last year, according to a Secret Service official during the eighth Jan. 6 hearing.
During the hearing, the Jan. 6 Committee presented a recording of an anonymous White House security official's interview and testimony regarding the riots.
The unnamed official explained to interviewers that members of Pence's security team were using the radio and their phones to make personal calls for fear of their own lives as the rioters entered the Capitol building. The official said he "didn't like to talk about" the calls to family because they were so "disturbing" to recall.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}This exhibit from video released by the House Select Committee, shows a photo of Vice President Mike Pence talking from his secure loading dock location, displayed at a hearing by the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, Thursday, July 21, 2022, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (House Select Committee via AP)
"The members of the VP detail at this time were starting to fear for their own lives," the security official said. "There was a lot of yelling. There was a lot of very personal calls over the radio. It was disturbing. I don’t like talking about it. There were calls to say goodbye to family members."
In the recordings, the anonymous security official's voice was modulated to protect his identity.
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This exhibit from video released by the House Select Committee, shows a photo of Vice President Mike Pence talking on the phone from his secure loading dock location, displayed at a hearing by the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, Thursday, July 21, 2022, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (House Select Committee via AP)
In the Jan. 6 Select Committee's final hearing of the summer, the panel on Thursday evening attempted to lay out a minute-by-minute account of former President Trump's actions during the Capitol Hill riot and claimed that he deliberately chose not to act despite being urged to denounce the violence by his aides.
"Here's what will be clear by the end of this hearing," Rep. Adam Kinzinger said near the opening of it. "President Trump did not fail to act during the 187 minutes between leaving the Ellipse and telling the mob to go home. He chose not to act."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}JAN. 6 COMMITTEE ATTEMPTS TO SHOW TRUMP DELIBERATELY IGNORED CALLS FROM STAFF TO DEESCALATE RIOT
Much of the evidence put forward by the committee had been previously reported on or presented, though not previously on primetime TV.
Throughout the hearing, the committee provided testimony from Trump aides who said that they urged the president to denounce the riot more forcefully as it was happening.