Former Vice President Mike Pence reportedly pushed back on orders from his security detail to leave the Capitol on Jan. 6 as supporters of former President Trump stormed the building in protest of Congress’s certification of President Biden’s election win.
According a Washington Post-published excerpt of the forthcoming book “I Alone Can Fix It” by reporters Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker, Pence expressed hesitancy to leave the Capitol, fearing it would only fulfill the wishes of Trump supporters angered by the vice president’s refusal to overturn the results of the election.
Trump had repeatedly urged Pence to contest Biden’s electoral win, though the reporters noted that Pence continuously pushed back, as he had no constitutional authority to make such a move.
As rioters began storming the Capitol, Trump tweeted, “Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution.”
With some of those marching through the Capitol chanting, “Hang Mike Pence,” Tim Giebels, the lead special agent in charge of the vice president’s protective detail, asked Pence twice to evacuate the building, according to the Post reporters
Pence reportedly declined, telling Giebels, “I’m not leaving the Capitol.”
According to the book, Giebels then said, “They’re in the building. … The room you’re in is not secure. There are glass windows. I need to move you. We’re going.”
Once Pence was brought down to an area where his armored limousine was waiting, Giebels reportedly told Pence, “We can hold here.”
However, Pence responded, “I’m not getting in the car, Tim,” according to the book.
“I trust you, Tim, but you’re not driving the car,” he added. “If I get in that vehicle, you guys are taking off. I’m not getting in the car.”
The reporters said that the former vice president, his wife, Karen Pence, and their daughter Charlotte Pence Bond “made their way to a secure underground area to wait out the riot.”
The excerpt provides a window into some of Mike Pence’s immediate responses to the mob attack, especially following Trump’s public condemnation of his No. 2 official for not fulfilling his desire to overturn the election, which he falsely claimed was stolen from him through widespread fraud.
The excerpt of the book, scheduled to be released on Tuesday, also revealed that Trump on the morning of Jan. 6 reportedly told Pence over the phone, “You don’t have the courage to make a hard decision.”