Pence’s former chief of staff, Marc Short, was contacted about providing information via a known source

Pence’s former chief of staff, Marc Short, was contacted about providing information via a known source

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Short did not respond, the source said. Managers are also seeking information from Chris Hodgson, the former head of legislative affairs, who according to Home Managers was also at Pence that day.

House leaders unexpectedly asked the Senate on Saturday morning to allow them to bring witnesses to the trial of former President Donald Trump, in which the threat Pence posed during the riot was a central focus. Rather, the Senate and trial attorneys agreed hours later to insert the statement of a Republican from the House in the trial record and later move the trial to a final vote.

A former Pence staffer told CNN that on January 6, then-National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien was traveling. His then deputy, Matt Pottinger, and Gen. Keith Kellogg, Pence’s national security adviser, were both in the White House on the day of the protest and riot. Kellogg confirmed to CNN that he was in the oval office with Trump and the president’s children while the riot raged, during which Pence was forced to flee the Senate.

During the riot, Kellogg was in communication with Pence through the Vice President’s staff, who communicated to the White House and obtained the information to Kellogg, who was with Trump.

“Kellogg was Pence’s national safety adviser, so of course they knew exactly what the circumstances were,” the former Pence staff said.

Pottinger resigned after the riot. Kellogg is known to be fiercely loyal to Trump.

Trump’s lawyer, Michael van der Veen, said on Friday that Trump is at no stage aware that the vice president is in danger. First-year Senator Tommy Tuberville, a Republican in Alabama, told reporters this week that he told Trump on Jan. 6 that Pence had just been chased away from the rioters by the U.S. Secret Service.

“I said, ‘Mr. President, hey, they just took out the vice president, I have to go,’ Tuberville told reporters.

Another source close to Pence said that Trump’s legal team did not tell the truth when van der Veen said ‘at no stage’ that the then president knew that Pence was in danger that day. Asked if Van der Veen was lying, the source said: “Yes.”

Former Pence assistants still rant about Trump’s actions during the riots, insisting he never checked on the vice president because he was rushed out of danger by his details of the secret service.

Pence remained silent during the Senate hearing.

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