Then-President Donald Trump offered a warning to his vice president, Mike Pence, on Jan. 6, 2021, according to a newly released transcript.
Certifying the election would be a “career killer,” a White House valet recalled President Trump saying.
“You need to do the right thing,” President Trump also said, according to the valet.
President Trump wanted Vice President Pence, as he presided over a joint session of Congress to certify electoral votes from states, to rule against some of the slates.
“It is my considered judgment that my oath to support and defend the Constitution constrains me from claiming unilateral authority to determine which electoral votes should be counted and which should not,” Vice President Pence said at the time.
President Trump later wrote on Twitter that the vice president “didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our country and our constitution, giving states a chance to certify a corrected set of facts.”
Earlier in the day, the pair spoke by phone.
Portions of the call have been recounted by other witnesses who testified to the U.S. House of Representatives committee that investigated Jan. 6. Julie Radford, who served as chief of staff to President Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump, said Ms. Trump told her that President Trump called Vice President Pence “an expletive” during the call. Ms. Trump told the panel she stayed with her father to try to calm him down after the call.
“This first-hand account of President Trump’s actions while at the White House on January 6 provides the American people with important, relevant information about the events of that day. I care about getting the truth out there, instead of only releasing parts that support a partisan narrative like the select committee did,” Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.), chairman of the subcommittee, said in a statement. “My goal is complete transparency so Americans can decide the truth about January 6 for themselves.”
The valet, who was not named, said that he could hear in President Trump’s voice that he was only in the Oval Office for part of the president’s call with Vice President Pence. The call took place in the morning, before President Trump went to the Ellipse to deliver a speech.
The valet said he did not hear President Trump call Vice President Pence any names.
After the call ended, President Trump’s mood shifted, the valet said. “He was frustrated, disappointed,” the valet testified. “I could tell.”
Asked how he knew, the valet said he could hear the feelings in the president’s voice.
Later in the day, when President Trump and the valet were alone, the president said that Vice President Pence had let him down.
The valet offered other comments about the situation, but they were redacted. Large portions of the version of the transcript that was released were blocked out.
The valet also said that he remembered President Trump talking about calling Vice President Pence after the Capitol was breached to make sure the vice president was okay, but the valet could not recall whether any such call was made, either by the president or on his behalf. President Trump also expressed interest in contacting Gen. Mark Milley and then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) about the National Guard, but did not know whether either were called. Gen. Milley told the panel that he did not receive a call on Jan. 6 from the president.
The valet said President Trump did call First Lady Melania Trump, and they discussed sending out a post on Twitter, now known as X.
President Trump eventually sent out multiple posts, including one saying the vice president was not courageous and another that called on people at the Capitol to support law enforcement and stay peaceful.
