Mike Pence blames lawyers for Trump’s ‘criminal’ behavior

Former Vice President Mike Pence said Monday that he didn’t think former President Donald Trump should be charged for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol, arguing Trump was merely for the bad followed the advice of his legal department.

Pence’s comments on possible criminal behavior by Trump came during an appearance on Fox News, where he discussed a report that the former president could be indicted by the Department of Justice (DOJ) in connection with his actions during the Capitol riots.

According to a recent Politico story, the Jan. 6 House Inquiry Committee will vote Monday on criminal referrals against Trump to the DOJ. The committee is also reportedly scheduled to vote on charges that could include insurgency, obstruction of official sessions of Congress and conspiracy to defraud the United States.

Pence told Fox News anchors Bill Hemmer and Dana Perino that he wasn’t sure the former president did anything illegal during the riots, just listening to his lawyers.

“When it comes to the Justice Department’s decision to press charges in the future, I would hope that they will not press charges against the former president,” Pence said. “As I wrote in my book, I find the President’s actions and words on January 6th reckless. But I don’t know that it’s criminal to take bad advice from lawyers.”

Following Pence’s comments to Trump’s attorneys, Perino said, “There could be criminal leads as well.”

“I want to say that I hope the Justice Department understands the magnitude of the idea of ​​indicting a former President of the United States,” Pence added. “I think that would divide the country terribly at a time when the American people want to see us healed. At this time of year we’re all thinking about the most important things in our lives — our faith, our family, and I hope the Justice Department thinks about it very carefully.”

Trump and Pence have not aligned since the 2020 presidential election. Since then, the former President has criticized Pence for not doing more to contest the election results. Trump’s comments expressing his disapproval of Pence included an interview in May The John Fredricks Show In it, Trump said he was “very disappointed” with Pence’s stance on the election.

Meanwhile, during a CNN town hall last month, Pence said he thinks there will be “better elections” for president in 2024 than Trump, who announced last month that he was running for president for the third time.

However, Pence is not siding with the House of Representatives investigating the Capitol riot. During his appearance on Fox News, Pence – who was one of the main targets of the Jan. 6 protesters who chanted “Hang Mike Pence” – criticized the panel.

“Having a committee that’s literally entirely appointed by the Democratic Speaker of the House really goes against the history and tradition of Congress,” Pence said. “This select committee has presented a kind of partisan flaw from the start. I think that’s one of the reasons so few Americans are paying much attention to what’s going to happen today or to the findings or recommendations of this committee.”

news week asked Pence for comment.