Pence’s comments about any potential criminal behavior on the part of Trump came during an appearance on Fox News, where he discussed a report that the former president could face charges from the Department of Justice (DOJ) in relation to his actions during the Capitol riot.
According to a recent Politico story, the House select committee investigating January 6 will vote on criminal referrals against Trump to the DOJ on Monday. The committee is also reportedly expected to vote on charges that could include insurrection, obstruction of an official proceeding of Congress and conspiracy to defraud the United States.
Pence told Fox News hosts Bill Hemmer and Dana Perino that he wasn’t sure if the former president had done anything illegal during the riot, but was instead only listening to his lawyers.
“When it comes to the Justice Department’s decision about about bringing charges in the future, I would hope that they would not bring charges against the former president,” Pence said. “As I wrote in my book, I think the president’s actions and words on January 6 were reckless. But I don’t know that it’s criminal to take bad advice from lawyers.”
After Pence’s comments about Trump’s lawyers, Perino said, “There might be criminal referrals on that too.”
“I want to say I hope the Justice Department understands the magnitude of the very idea of indicting a former president of the United States,” Pence added. “I think that would be terribly divisive in the country at a time when the American people want to see us heal. At this time of year, we’re all thinking about the most important things in our lives—our faith, our family, and my hope is that Justice Department will think very carefully.”
Trump and Pence have not been aligned since the 2020 presidential election. Since then, the former president has been critical of Pence for not doing more to challenge the election results. Among Trump’s comments expressing disapproval of Pence was a May interview on The John Fredricks Show in which Trump said he was “greatly disappointed” for Pence’s stance on the election.
Meanwhile, Pence said during a CNN town hall last month that he feels there will be “better choices” for president in 2024 than Trump, who announced last month that he was running for president for the third time.
Pence is nonetheless not siding with the House select committee investigating the Capitol riot. During his Fox News appearance, Pence—who was one of the principle targets of the protesters on January 6 who chanted “Hang Mike Pence”—criticized the panel.
“To have a committee that was literally appointed in its entirety by the Democratic speaker of the House really violates the history and tradition of the Congress,” Pence said. “This select committee from the very beginning has represented a kind of a partisan taint. I think it’s one of the reasons why so few Americans are paying much attention to what will happen today or to the results or recommendations of this committee.”
Newsweek reached out to Pence for comment.
