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Secret Service might have told Trump about threat to Mike Pence's life, Internet says ‘he planned the whole thing’

There is surmounting evidence that former president Donald Trump clearly knew about the threat to former VP Mike Pence's life

On the day of the Capitol Riots on January 6, 2021, former president Donald J Trump infamously disparaged former Vice President Mike Pence on Twitter, at a time when the rioters had allegedly already stormed the Capitol building. Till now, it was believed that Trump was reportedly unaware of the events at the Capitol building when he posted his tweet.

However, as the former president's impeachment trial proceeds, evidence has surfaced which indicates that Trump might have been informed about Pence's life being in danger at the Capitol at the time when he posted his tweet. Trump's lawyer Michael van der Veen reportedly denied any existence of proof and claimed that “at no point was the president informed the vice president was in any danger.”

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Van der Veen, however, failed to elucidate the timeline or clarify why the accusations were wrong. Instead, he went on to say that “the House rushed through this impeachment in seven days with no evidence.” Now, new tweets have surfaced online that shed light on the possibility of the Secret Service informing the president.

Why did Trump vilify Pence in front of the MAGA crowd?

Pence was a prime target at the attack by the MAGA supporters who sieged the Capitol. Earlier on January 6, 2021, Trump singled him out during his 'Stop The Steal' rally, falsely claiming that as the Vice President, Pence possessed the power to stop the validation of Joe Biden's election victory by the Congress, reports The Independent. 

It has now come to light that Trump kept on pressuring Pence till that day to help overturn the 2020 presidential election results by stopping Congress from formalizing Joe Biden's win. In fact, Trump was reportedly infuriated after Pence had firmly told him that he would refrain from interfering with the Constitutional process of President-elect Biden's validation, former administration officials revealed. Later, Pence also issued a formal statement confirming his intention of non-interference with the Congressional process. 

Trump even went to the extent of addressing Pence directly while speaking at the rally — “Mike Pence, I hope you’re going to stand up for the good of our Constitution and for the good of our country. And if you’re not, I’m going to be very disappointed in you.” Trump's public vilification of Mike Pence was considered to be a major reason why slogans like 'Hang Mike Pence' and 'Kill Mike Pence' were heard during the riots.

Did Donald Trump know about the life threats?

Despite Trump's denials, there is surmounting evidence to prove that Trump clearly knew about the threat to Pence's life when he denigrated him further in his tweet. “Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution... USA demands the truth!” Trump tweeted at 2:24 PM. 

This was exactly 11 minutes after the live television coverage from the Capitol that showed Pence being removed from the Senate Floor as rioters were violently breaking into the floor below. An insider source has revealed to The Independent that Trump was watching the live news coverage from the Senate after returning to the White House from his rally.

Secret Service must have informed the President

In addition, it is believed that as per the norm, Pence's Secret Service must have informed the president about his danger to life and consequent evacuation to safety. 

"I worked with the Secret Service in the Clinton White House. It's unimaginable that agents with VP Pence would not have informed their counterparts at the WH in real-time that VP was in danger. They, in turn, would have informed the President. Trump almost certainly knew," tweeted former Secret Service official Paul Begala.

Around 2:13 pm, Trump spoke to Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville on the phone who reportedly informed him about Vice-President Pence's evacuation. Trump's tweet came at 2:24 pm and the Senate was completely evacuated by 2.30 pm. Simon Rosenberg, the founder of New Democrat Network called out Trump's lawyer van der Veen saying Trump did not know the Pence was in danger. "This is a f**king lie. No way Secret Service didn't go to DefCon 5 for entire White House complex even before Pence was moved from the Senate," he tweeted. 

"When JFK was shot, Secret Service in Dallas almost immediately informed Secret Service at White House — and that was with the relatively primitive technology of 1963. Strains credulity that Trump didn’t know Pence was in danger," tweeted Presidential historian Michael Beschloss. 

‘He planned the whole thing’

The tweets sparked much fury and led the Internet to assume that Trump definitely knew about the threat and was lying. One even went on to say he planned the entire thing. "He was told by Tuberville, and he was told by the Secret Service, and he watched it unfold live on TV, and he planned the whole thing. He reacted in real-time, with yet another tweet threatening Pence while he was in hiding. There is no universe where he didn’t know," one tweet read. 

Another said, "Is it also likely that Trump would have been taken to the bunker by the Secret Service when they were told that the Capitol, VP & Speaker were under attack?" When a third wrote, "@SenSchumer We MUST have Pence testify," another said, "What could Pence tell us? He was in hiding and cut off. The Secret Service people who worked in their communication central and in the White House on the afternoon of Jan 6 might be much better suited."

One Twitter user wrote, "Pence's and Trump's Secret Service agents should have been called as witnesses, but Lady Lindsey would have called Jimmy Carter as a witness. It is time to make Pelosi and Schumer go away into retirement. They are so busy politically triangulating that they let this s**t happen."

Another added, "Of course he knew. He knew immediately as it happened. He knew Pence had his wife and daughter in the Capitol as well. It’s unfathomable that Trump endangered Pence and his family."