The relationship between former president Donald Trump and his old number two, Mike Pence, seems to have finally come to an end. But while the ex-vice president has admitted Trump’s voter fraud lies were “wrong,” he’s never formally turned on him, even after he defended supporters who wanted him dead. Still, details have emerged over the last year-and-a-half that indicate that he feared for his life the day of the Jan. 6 riot. Now we’re learning his staff was worried even before Trump supporters stormed the Capitol.
A new report from The New York Times’ Maggie Haberman reveals that, on Jan. 5, Pence’s chief of staff, Marc Short, contacted Tim Giebels, the vice president’s lead Secret Service agent, to deliver a warning: Trump was almost certainly going to publicly turn on Pence, endangering his life. It was, in fact, the only time over the last four years that Short had been formally worried about his boss’s safety.
As per NYT:
Mr. Short did not know what form such a security risk might take, according to people familiar with the events. But after days of intensifying pressure from Mr. Trump on Mr. Pence to take the extraordinary step of intervening in the certification of the Electoral College count to forestall Mr. Trump’s defeat, Mr. Short seemed to have good reason for concern. The vice president’s refusal to go along was exploding into an open and bitter breach between the two men at a time when the president was stoking the fury of his supporters who were streaming into Washington.
The warning not only further demonstrates the chasm that grew between Trump and Pence, but also shows that fear of what Trump would do in his final days in office went to the highest levels of government.
It’s not clear what Giebels did with this information, but Short’s prophecy came true: More than 2,000 Trump supporters stormed the Capitol building, some of them chanting “Hang Mike Pence.” Trump never once contacted Pence to see if he was okay.
The news led some on social media to some disturbing conclusions, including that Pence knew what a threat Trump was to not only himself but to democracy — and continues to do nothing.
And they decided to warn the Secret Service, “hey, this is coming.” So, if that’s right, you have Pence and his staff deciding the night before that Trump might try to get him killed, and then Trump DOES ACTUALLY TRY to get Pence killed, and Pence STILL won’t testify against him.
— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) June 3, 2022
Also of note, Haberman discovered this while researching her forthcoming book, Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America, which isn’t due to hit shelves until October. But unlike some Trump book authors, who’ve held onto damning intel until they’re published, so as to sell more books, Haberman released this bit early, when it could make a difference.
(Via NYT)