One day before the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, tensions were so high inside the White House that then-Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff Marc Short hauled a Secret Service agent into his office and told him explicitly: Pence may be in danger and President Donald Trump may be the cause.
In a damning New York Times report published Friday, reporter Maggie Haberman said she came upon this new detail when doing research for her book. It will be published in October. Haberman reported that it was unclear what Secret Service agent Tim Giebels with the warning he received, however.
“The chief of staff, Marc Short, had a message for the agent, Tim Giebels: The president was going to turn publicly against the vice president, and there could be a security risk to Mr. Pence because of it.
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Within 24 hours, Trump would take to his perch on Twitter to hurl insults at Pence, raising questions about his vice president’s fortitude in light of Pence’s private rejection of a strategy that would have him stop or delay the counting of Electoral College votes. Pence did not have the authority to do so, but that did not stop Trump from amping up the pressure.
According to Haberman, when Short called Giebels into his office, he wasn’t sure what specific security risk was in play. But he was worried and he wanted the agency to know.
Indeed, Pence was the target of Trump’s ire, as well as his supporters.
On the day of the breach, chants of “Hang Mike Pence” reverberated through the crowd. Pence was barely whisked away to safety when people began streaming into the Capitol.
The January 6 Committee has interviewed Short, as well as other Pence staffers and advisers over the course of its months-long investigation. A report from the Times last month indicated that at least one witness who has met with the investigators testified that Trump co-signed on the chants to execute his second-in-command.
The select committee’s public hearings will kick off next week, starting during a primetime 8 PM ET slot on June 9. There will be nine total hearings. After June 9, hearings will be held on June 13, 15, 16, 21, and 23. Only the first and last hearings will be aired at 8 PM ET. The other hearings will be held at 10 AM ET.
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