Rep. Bennie Thompson, chairman of the select committee investigating the January 6 insurrection, wants to hear directly from then-Vice President Mike Pence, who certified the 2020 presidential election despite an extensive pressure campaign led by then-President Donald Trump and his allies to halt the process.
Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat, wants Pence to voluntarily speak with the panel about what he witnessed on January 6 and the conversations he was privy to in the days leading up to it, which could provide extensive insight into the panel’s investigation.
“I would hope that he would do the right thing and come forward and voluntarily talk to the committee,” Thompson told CNN in an interview Tuesday, January 4, 2022.
Thompson added that the panel has not officially asked Pence to speak with them, but did not rule out making that ask in the future.
“We have not formally asked. But if he offered, we’d gladly accept. Everything is under consideration.”
Thompson made note that Pence’s decision to disregard the pressure campaign he was under put him at extreme risk from the rioters on January 6.
“His life was at risk,” Thompson said. “There were people who had gallows erected on the lawn of the Capitol ostensibly to hang the vice president. There were people on them threatening the life of the vice president. The vice president could not leave the Capitol of the United States because of the riot. He was sequestered in an area in the Capitol. So his life was in danger.”
