Marc Short, chief of staff for former Vice President Mike Pence, said he shared concerns about potential threats to Pence from Trump supporters.
The former chief of staff did not testify during live hearings held by the House Select Committee investigating the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot. Testimony he provided during a closed door deposition was expected to be included in video footage presented by the Democratic-dominated January 6 committee.
Short said he had spoken with a Secret Service agent the day before the Capitol riot during a Wednesday CNN interview conducted by Wolf Blitzer.
“On the 5th I did talk to Tim,” Short said of the lead Secret Service agent on Pence’s detail. “At that point it did become clear that the disagreements that had been discussed and the staff were about to become far more public, and I think with thousands of people descending on Washington with hopes of a different outcome, I just thought it was important that they be alerted to that, but I did not have any specific intelligence. I did not have any knowledge that the Capitol would be attacked the way it was.”
The New York Times reported Short warned Secret Service members that Trump was going to turn on Pence and the former president’s pressure campaign could create risk for the vice president.
Asked if Pence believed that Trump’s public pressure campaign against him was endangering him, Short said, “I think the vice president felt secure with the Secret Service around him,” Short said. “I don’t think any of us ever envisioned what would happen on January 6.”
Short told Blitzer that Trump bears responsibility, whether he meant to incite violence or not.
“He has responsibility to listen to advice or discard advice,” Pence’s former chief of staff said, “but I also think that there were people around the president who I think served him very poorly and I think gave very poor advice.”
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