The Jan. 6 select committee presented evidence Thursday that the Secret Service and the National Security Council expressed concern on Jan. 6 that then-Vice President Mike Pence would be trapped in the Capitol while the unrest unfolded.
Why it matters: The evidence seeks to underscore the stakes that day, as the rioters stood just five to 10 feet from the vice president, whom they blamed for refusing to try to overturn the election in in favor of then President Trump.
Driving the news: In radio traffic from Jan. 6 that the committee played at its Thursday hearing, a Secret Service agent guarding Pence said: “If we lose any more time, we may … lose the ability to leave. So if we’re going to leave, we have to do it now.
- One officer said, “We might want to consider getting out and leaving now,” and another asked, “Are we going to meet people once we’re on our way?”
- Another officer said the rioters were only five to 10 feet away, with six police officers in between.
The National Security Council had similar concerns about Pence’s ability to leave the Capitol, according to chat records shown by the committee.
- A message at 2:18 PM read: “Decisions in next 2-3 minutes or may not be able to move. VP may be stuck in Capitol.”
- Another message six minutes later read: “Capitol service not sounding good right now.”
According to an unnamed White House security official who testified before the committee, the NSC message about “Capitol service” referred to a radio chatter by Capitol agents.
- “VP members at this point were beginning to fear for their own lives,” they said in the interview.
- “There was a lot of screaming, a lot of very personal calls over the radio, so it was disturbing. I don’t like to talk about it, but there were calls to say goodbye to family members. . . . The VP thought. that was about to get really ugly.”
- “It appears that … we were very close to the Service having to use lethal options, or worse. I don’t know at the time. Is the vice president engaged? I don’t know,” they stated.
Dig deeper… 187 minutes: Jan. 6 hearing to show Trump’s deliberate inaction
Editor’s note: This story has been updated with additional details.