Former US vice president Mike Pence has made his strongest condemnation of former US president Donald Trump following his former boss’s indictment for attempts to overturn the result of the 2020 election.
In the third criminal case against him, Mr Trump has been charged by the US Justice Department over schemes to subvert the transfer of power and keep him in office despite his loss to Joe Biden.
Mr Pence, who is among the Republican contenders running against Mr Trump in 2024, said the charges serve as a reminder “anyone who puts himself over the Constitution should never be President of the United States”.
Criticising the former president’s actions surrounding the January 6th, 2021 riot at the US Capitol, which forced the then vice-president to hide as some in the mob chanted “Hang Mike Pence”, he said Mr Trump demanded a choice between the president and the Constitution.
He said: “Our country is more important than one man. Our constitution is more important than any one man’s career.”
The indictment produces new evidence not detailed in the final report of the House’s January 6th Committee, listing conversations in which Mr Trump attempted to persuade Mr Pence to delay certification of the 2020 election or reject the presidential electors.
Mr Pence declined to testify before the House committee but testified before the federal grand jury investigating Mr Trump.
Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith said the attack on the US Capitol was “fuelled by lies” from Mr Trump.
In a brief statement in Washington after the indictment against the former president was released, he said: “The attack on our nation’s capital on January 6th, 2021, was an unprecedented assault on the seat of American democracy.”
Mr Smith said he would seek a speedy trial for the former president who is due to appear before US District Judge Tanya Chutkan on Thursday.
The judge, who has been among the toughest punishers of people charged over the January 6 attack, refused Mr Trump’s request to block the release of documents to the House committee by asserting executive privilege.
In her ruling, she wrote: “Presidents are not kings, and Plaintiff is not President.”
Mr Trump denies doing anything wrong with the indictment focusing on the two months between the November 2020 election and the US Capitol riot.
The charges include conspiracy to defraud the United States government and witness tampering.
Federal prosecutors said in the indictment he knew his lies about his loss in the 2020 presidential election were false and that he spread lies to create an “intense national atmosphere of mistrust and anger” and “erode public faith in the administration of the election”.
Shortly before the indictment was unsealed, the former president accused Mr Smith’s team of trying to interfere with the election with what he called “yet another Fake Indictment”.
“Why didn’t they do this 2.5 years ago? Why did they wait so long?” he asked on his Truth Social site. “Because they wanted to put it right in the middle of my campaign. Prosecutorial Misconduct!”
Mr Trump’s campaign issued a statement calling the third indictment of the former president “nothing more than the latest corrupt chapter” in what the campaign characterised as a politically motivated “witch hunt”.
The mounting criminal – and civil – cases against Mr Trump are unfolding in the heat of the 2024 race but a conviction would not prevent him from pursuing the White House or serving as president.
New York state prosecutors have charged Mr Trump with falsifying business records about a hush money payoff to an adult film actor before the 2016 election. The trial begins in late March.
In Florida, the US Justice Department has brought more than three dozen felony counts against Mr Trump accusing him of illegally possessing classified documents after leaving the White House and concealing them from the government. The trial begins in late May.
Prosecutors in Georgia are investigating efforts by Mr Trump and his allies to reverse his election loss and the district attorney of Fulton County is expected to announce a decision on whether to indict the former president in early August.
