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Exclusive: At least 5 people from the inner circle of the 6th January committee pence interested – World Latest News Headlines

November 11, 2021
Bharat Times

According to sources familiar with the discussions, some of Pence’s aides are proving more willing to engage with the committee than were previously made public.

Chairman Benny Thompson confirmed to CNN last week that the committee is in the process of reaching out to Pence’s aides, but said their efforts have met with mixed success.

“Well, yes and no,” replied Thompson whether Pence’s accomplices were allies. “I just don’t want to say yes, when there were some people who explicitly said no. So we have, you know, people on both sides.”

Thompson did not disclose the names of people the committee has been in contact with or may have had contact with. But sources told CNN that there are several people on the list who are close to Pence, including former chief attorney Greg Jacob and former chief of staff Mark Short. In addition to the committee’s potential interest, according to a source of knowledge, Pence’s past chief of staff is Nick Ayers, former legislative affairs director Chris Hodgson, political adviser Marty Obst and former special assistant Zach Bauer.

In addition, former Pence press secretary and Trump communications aide Alyssa Farah, who left the administration in early December 2020, voluntarily met with Republicans on the House select committee and provided information as CNN. informed of last month.

Jacob, Hodgson, Ayers and Bauer did not respond to CNN’s request for comment. Kellogg and Short declined to comment.

In an email, Obst told CNN that he “has no contact with the January 6 committee at this time and no one is contacting me.”

Tuesday night, a federal judge denied Trump’s attempt to withhold records from the committee is a blow to the former president’s efforts to keep more than 700 pages of White House documents secret. Although Trump’s legal team says it intends to appeal, the ruling casts doubt on his ability to stop Pence’s aides from helping the committee.

serious witness

Kellogg became the first person in Pence’s inner circle to be called by the committee on Tuesday. in that Letter As for Kellogg, the committee specifically expressed interest in learning more about a meeting with Trump and White House counsel Pat Cipollone on at least January 1, 2021, during which Trump insisted that Pence testify to the election. do not give. We do.
Retired Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg talks to the media in the lobby of Trump Tower on November 15, 2016.

The committee also said that Kellogg was at the White House on January 6 as the attack unfolded and that he “saw knowledge” of Trump’s “statements and reactions to the capital uprising”.

While Kellogg served as Pence’s national security adviser, on January 6 he is considered a key witness because of his proximity to Trump. The then national security adviser to former President Robert O’Brien was out of town that day.

According to sources who spoke to CNN, Jacob has also emerged as a person of significant interest to the committee. As Pence’s general counsel, Jacob was instrumental in countering attempts to persuade the former vice president not to testify the election results.

Jacob was part of Pence’s team that pushed back against John Eastman, the conservative lawyer who Adopted ancillary legal principles About the Vice President’s ability to reverse the election.
The committee has long considered Jacob a potential fact-witness in its investigation. But he became more prominent after the following a report good In The Washington Post, which CNN confirmed, Eastman, who was advising Trump, sent an email to Jacob during the riot, blaming Pence for the violence at the US Capitol.
Memo shows Trump lawyer's six-step plan to reverse Pence's election

The finding of cooperation from Jacob, as well as others close to Pence, underscores the committee’s interest in learning more about any pressure related to blocking the authentication of election results.

Jamie Ruskin, a select committee member, told CNN: “The political coup was very clearly a plan to organize a campaign to get Mike Pence to block the authentication of electoral votes.”

“Eastman’s actions at this point are entirely clear. He was the architect of a legal strategy to claim for the first time in American history that the Vice President had the unilateral authority to reject Electoral College votes that were the result of popular elections. , Ruskin said that Eastman “is clearly a person of intense interest to the selection committee on January 6. ,

Jacob can give a direct account of Eastman’s role in that effort. Eastman was summons issued committee on monday

a political path

The committee’s work presents a significant political challenge for Pence as he attempts to outsmart Trump, raise funds, and build a team. It is possible that the White House will run in 2024,

While Pence has defended his refusal to delay the January 6 count of electoral votes, those close to him have openly acknowledged the danger of joining the committee, which many Republicans have described as partisan.

The committee’s interest in some of Pence’s closest aides – and the question of how far those allies can cooperate – complicate an already difficult political road for the former vice president.

Pence needs to keep his distance from Trump’s fight to reverse the election while cultivating his ties to the former president’s base.

Then the question arises whether Trump himself can run for the presidency again. People close to Pence told CNN that the former vice president, once known for his unwavering loyalty, can no longer wait to see what Trump decides.

The events of January 6 remain a source of division between the former vice president and Trump’s most loyal supporters within the GOP. Iowa Republican operative David Kochel said hostility toward the committee among many Republican and conservative media meant Pence had to be careful.

“Pence needs to figure out how to defend his actions to abide by the Constitution, while not slamming the strings of that trip,” Coachell said.

Pence has repeatedly reaffirmed his decision to certify the electoral count since leaving office, saying his actions were constitutional. He has also called the attempt to reverse the 2020 election results “un-American”.

And when asked at an event in Iowa last week “who told you to downplay President Trump’s plan” on January 6, Pence replied bluntly, “James Madison.”

CNN’s Ryan Nobles, Paula Reid and Alex Marquardt contributed to this report.