Mediaboss Marketing

Former Vice President Mike Pence, left, and former House Speaker Paul Ryan, right

MADISON - Asformer President Donald Trump in the weeks following his re-election loss mounted a pressure campaign on his vice president to block the certification of Joe Biden's victory, former House Speaker Paul Ryan called then-Vice President Mike Pence to remindhim he did not have the power to grant Trump's wishes.

Ryan called Pence and his chief of staff Marc Short to make the case that Pence did not have the authority to overturn the election results he was scheduled to certify on Jan. 6, 2021, Short said in closed-door testimony that was presented during a Thursday hearing of the U.S. House Select Committee examining the events leading up to the U.S. Capitol insurrection.

"Ryan wanted to call and say you know, you don't have any greater authority and I said, 'Mr. Speaker, you know, Mike. You know, he doesn't ...you knowhe recognizes that.' And we sort of laughed about it and he said, 'I get it.' And he later spoke to the Vice Presidentto, I think, have the same conversation," Short said.

Subscribe to our On Wisconsin Politics newsletter for the week's political news explained.

As Pence prepared to publicly disavow Trump, he consulted with Ryan and former Vice President Dan Quayle, both of whom said Pence did not have the authority to change the outcome of the election.

"Ithink he was proud to have stood beside the president for all that has been done," Short said in his deposition for the committee. "But I think he ultimately knew that his fidelity to the Constitution was his first and foremost oath."

Short's testimony presents one of the only glimpses into the reaction of Ryan to Trump's effort to subvert his election loss. Ryan, a Janesville native who represented the First Congressional District for 20 years, largely stayed quiet in the aftermath of the Capitol attack but attended the inauguration of Biden in the weeks after.

More: Wisconsin congressional delegation offers split response to Jan. 6 hearing as Republicans turn attention elsewhere

Story continues

Earlier this month, Ryan made a rare campaign endorsement for U.S. Rep. Tom Rice of South Carolina, who voted to impeach Trump,and in his endorsement, Ryan said a lot of Republicans wanted toimpeach Trumpafter Jan. 6 but 'just didn't have the guts to do it." Rice lost his primary race this week.

Trump and Ryan have had an icy relationship for years, coming to blows most recently in 2021 when Ryan criticized the rise of Trumpism in the Republican Party.

"If the conservative cause depends on the populist appeal of one personality, or ofsecond-rate imitations, then we're not going anywhere," Ryan said in aspeech at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California. "Voters looking for Republican leaders want to see independence and mettle. They will not be impressed by the sight of yes-men and flatterers flocking to Mar-a-Lago."

In response, Trump called Ryan "a curse" on the party.

More: Wisconsin's ties to Jan. 6 may become clearer as select committee focuses on effort to stop certification

Short's testimony was presented in the third day of hearingslaying out evidence gathered by the committee's investigation. It has focused on the efforts to persuade Pence to overturn the election by Trump and conservative attorney John Eastman.

Eastman is a key figure in a movement among some Wisconsin Republicans to continue to push for the decertification of the 2020 presidential election, a move that is legally impossible. He met with Assembly Speaker Robin Vos in April to try to persuade the Rochester Republican to move forward with a resolution that would pull back Wisconsin's 10 electoral votes.

Legal experts and constitutional attorneys have called this idea a fantasy but it has been promoted by a Republican candidate for governor and the former Supreme Court justice leading a taxpayer-funded review of the 2020 election for Vos.

Contact Molly Beckat molly.beck@jrn.com. Follow her on Twitter at @MollyBeck.

Our subscribers make this reporting possible. Please consider supporting local journalism by subscribing to the Journal Sentinel at jsonline.com/deal.

DOWNLOAD THE APP: Get the latest news, sports and more

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: January 6 hearings: Paul Ryan told Pence he couldn't reverse election

View original post here:
Paul Ryan called Mike Pence ahead of Jan. 6 to tell him he did not have ...

Former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence visits the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines, Iowa, U.S. August 19, 2022. REUTERS/Rachel Mummey/File Photo

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comRegister

WASHINGTON, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Democratic U.S. lawmaker Jamie Raskin, a member of the House of Representatives panel probing the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, said on Sunday he expected former Vice President Mike Pence to testify voluntarily before the committee.

"I would hope he would come forward and testify about what happened," Raskin said on Pence's potential testimony in an interview to CBS News.

"In no one's case is a subpoena out of question, but I would assume he is going to come forward and testify voluntarily," he added when asked about whether the committee was likely to issue a subpoena for Pence.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comRegister

Pence has said he thinks former President Donald Trump was wrong to believe the former vice president had the power to reverse the outcome of the 2020 election. The election results were being certified by Pence and lawmakers when the Capitol was attacked by supporters of Trump, a Republican, after weeks of false claims by the former president that he had won the vote. read more

Pence said in August that he would consider testifying before the committee if asked but added later that he also considered the Jan. 6 committee to have "a partisan taint."

The panel held eight hearings over six weeks, which wrapped up in July and featured hours of testimony from close Trump allies and former White House staff. read more

The hearings were intended to lay out a case that Trump violated the law as he tried to stop the peaceful transfer of power from one president to the next. The panel has said it plans to push its investigation further in the coming weeks.

Raskin added that Virginia "Ginni" Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, should also testify.

The justice's wife is active in conservative political circles and has said she attended a rally by Trump outside the White House before his supporters marched on the Capitol to try to block certification of Democrat Joe Biden's election win. read more

The Washington Post had reported earlier that the Jan. 6 committee obtained emails between Ginni Thomas and attorney John Eastman, who had advised Trump that Pence could thwart formal congressional certification of Trump's loss. Her lawyer, Mark R. Paoletta, said she had no role in the Jan. 6 attack and never discussed election litigation strategy with Eastman.

"I would say she has relevant testimony to render and she should come forward and give it", Raskin said on Sunday.

The Democratic lawmaker added he was "speaking only as one member" of the committee.

In June, Ginni Thomas expressed eagerness to speak with the panel but her lawyer later said the committee should provide a better justification for why her testimony was relevant. read more

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comRegister

Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; editing by Philippa Fletcher

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Continued here:
Lawmaker on Jan. 6 probe panel expects Mike Pence to testify voluntarily - Reuters

Marc Short, a top aide to former Vice President Mike Pence, is wary of the FBI investigation into former President Donald Trump's handling of White House records and the legal team defending the former president.

Like many Republicans, Short believes a politicized FBI acted with harsh law enforcement tactics to obtain records in Trump's possession while former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton received comparatively lenient treatment during the 2016 investigation of her email server.

"Hillary Clinton was wrong to transfer those documents and President Trump likely should not have been in possession of those documents. I don't think that's too far of a stretch for a rational person to say," Short said. "How do we move to a position where we're actually having a raid on the former president's home?...I think there has to be continued transparency on the part of DOJ here."

The Justice Department's filing on Tuesday indicated investigators made several efforts to retrieve documents from Trump's Mar-a-Lago home through less intrusive means, but later learned there were more records, although a Trump attorney affirmed a "diligent" sweep of the estate had been completed.

Short told CBS News chief Washington correspondent Major Garrett on "The Takeout" Wednesday that the ex-president is being ill-served by his legal counsel. "I think one of the more troubling aspects of disclosures (on Tuesday) was misrepresentations by the president's lawyers in documents to the FBI. And there's a big difference between playing a lawyer on TV and actually being the sound lawyer advising the former president." Short noted the president has since expanded his legal team,adding former Florida solicitor general Chris Kise.

Before serving as Pence's chief of staff, Short was the top White House liaison to Capitol Hill under Trump. He participated in several classified briefings with the then-president and did not consider Trump "reckless" with sensitive documents.

Short said there was a process for White House staff "that you signed out and returned" classified material so there was a paper trail.

When Pence left the White House, Short said White House lawyers returned classified documents to their proper place and all other materials were sent to the archives. "I have no knowledge of (Pence) being in possession of any of those documents upon his completion of service," Short said.

Short still works alongside the former vice president and said if Pence decides to run for president in 2024, he won't announce a campaign until next year. Pence will spend the next several months campaigning for likeminded Republicans ahead of the midterms. His memoir, published by a division of ViacomCBS, is scheduled for release on Nov. 15.

Pence and Short were together on Jan. 6, 2021 during the Capitol riot. They took refuge in a parking lot beneath the complex and refused to evacuate, amid mob calls to "Hang Mike Pence" and false presidential claims that Pence could somehow overturn the 2020 election results.

Short said Trump and Pence had some "reconciliatory conversations" following Jan. 6, but those ended in 2021 because the former president continued to assert Pence "had some extraordinary power to overturn an election."

Whether Pence runs in 2024, Short said, won't depend on whether Trump is a declared candidate.

Executive producer: Arden Farhi

Producers: Jamie Benson, Jacob Rosen, Sara Cook and Eleanor Watson

CBSN Production: Eric SoussaninShow email:TakeoutPodcast@cbsnews.comTwitter:@TakeoutPodcastInstagram:@TakeoutPodcastFacebook:Facebook.com/TakeoutPodcast

Trending News

Read the original:
Pence aide Marc Short wary of FBI investigation into Trump's handling of White House records "The Takeout" - CBS News

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

Two potential contenders for the next race for the Republican presidential nomination return this month to New Hampshire, the state that for a century held the first primary in the race for the White House.

And another possible GOP presidential contender is making his first stop in the early voting state this cycle.

Former Vice President Mike Pence will headline a fundraiser in Wilton, New Hampshire, on Sept. 14 the day after primary day in the crucial battleground state for whoever wins the GOP Senate nomination in the race to challenge former governor and first-term Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan. The race in New Hampshire is one of a handful across the country that may determine if the Republicans win back the Senate majority in Novembers midterm elections.

And six days later on Sept. 20, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will headline the latest edition of the New Hampshire Institute of Politics "Politics and Eggs." The speaking series at St. Anselm College, just west of Manchester, has been a must-stop for nearly a quarter-century for actual and potential White House hopefuls of both major parties. Fox News last week was the first to report word of both the Pence and Pompeo trips.

PENCE MAKING HIGH-PROFILE STOPS IN IOWA AND NEW HAMPSHIRE

Former Vice President Mike Pence speaks at "Politics and Eggs" at St. Anselm College's New Hampshire Institute of Politics, on Aug. 17, 2022, in Goffstown, New Hampshire. (Fox News)

Pence is no stranger to New Hampshire. Hes already made four trips to the state since the end of former President Donald Trumps administration early last year. During his last visit to the Granite State, he headlined "Politics and Eggs," which kicked off a jam-packed day that ended north of the notches at two gatherings in New Hampshires North Country for local Republican lawmakers, candidates and officials.

Two days after his August stop in New Hampshire, Pence made a busy two-day swing through Iowa, whose caucuses have led off the presidential nominating calendar for half a century. The former vice presidents itinerary included another must-stop for White House hopefuls: a visit to the Iowa State Fair.

Pence has also made multiple stops over the past year and a half in South Carolina, which holds the third contest and first southern primary in the Republican presidential nominating calendar.

Pompeo, the former congressman from Kansas who served as CIA director and later Americas top diplomat during the Trump administration, has also been a frequent visitor to the early voting primary and caucus states. And both have told Fox News and other organizations that theyll make their decisions regarding 2024 after the midterm elections.

2024 WATCH: POMPEO GOES UP WITH ADS IN IOWA AND SOUTH CAROLINA

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo keynotes the Hillsborough County GOP's annual Lincoln-Reagan fundraising dinner, in Manchester, New Hampshire, on April 7, 2022. (Fox News)

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, hasn't made as many trips to early voting states as Pence and Pompeo, but the conservative firebrand heads this week to New Hampshire on a 2022 mission that will also spark more speculation about his national ambitions in 2024.

Cruz will travel to the crucial general election battleground state to campaign with Republican candidate Karoline Leavitt at a get-out-the-vote rally on Thusday, which was first reported by Fox News this weekend.

Leavitt, a 25-year-old veteran of the Trump White House press shop, is currently one of the co-front-runners in the Sept. 13 Republican primary in New Hampshires First Congressional District, which has long been a highly contested swing House district.

Cruz, who was runner-up to Trump in the race for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, last month made stops in Iowa to headline a fundraiser for longtime GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley, whos running for re-election this year. And he also traveled to Nevada, which votes fourth in the GOP primary and caucus schedule, where Cruz spoke in support of former state Attorney General Adam Laxalt, the 2022 Senate nominee in the key battleground state.

FIRST ON FOX: CRUZ HEADED TO NEW HAMPSHIRE ON THURSDAY

GOP Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas speaks at the annual Basque Fry hosted by former Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt, the 2022 Republican Senate nominee, on Aug. 13, 2022, in Gardnerville, Nevada. (Sen. Ted Cruz)

Cruz, like Pence, Pompeo and other potential White House hopefuls, has been crisscrossing the country this year on behalf of fellow Republicans running in the midterms.

While the official starting gun in the next White House race doesnt fire until after Novembers elections, early visits by Pence, Pompeo and a slew of other potential GOP presidential contenders have been underway since early last year.

"I think the race is already on," New Hampshire Institute of Politics executive director Neil Levesque told Fox News. "The race to replace to Joe Biden is full steam ahead."

"Theyre coming up and their themes and messages are getting out there," Levesque noted. "Its not a game changer overnight. Its a slow process where people gain activists, friends, earned media, and it all ties in and pays off during those early primaries" in 2024.

CHECK OUT THE LATEST FOX NEWS 2022 MIDTERMS POWER RANKINGS

Hogan back in New Hampshire

Gov. Larry Hogan, R-Md., stopped in New Hampshire last week, his second visit this summer.

Hogan, who is term-limited and cannot run for re-election in blue state Maryland, has been crisscrossing the country in recent months on behalf of fellow Republicans on the ballot in November. He stopped in the Granite State to headline a fundraiser for GOP state lawmakers.

GOP Govs. Larry Hogan of Maryland, right, and Chris Sununu of New Hampshire at a fundraiser for Republican state representatives, on Aug. 30, 2022, in Manchester. (An America United)

The governors latest trip to New Hampshire came two weeks after he stopped in Iowa, on a two-day swing that included a visit to the state fair.

Hogan told Fox News last month that he would potentially launch a 2024 Republican presidential campaign if he sees "theres a possible road to victory, that theres a lane and I have an opportunity."

On Tuesday, asked about his latest visits to the early voting states, the governor said, "We've been to probably 15 different states. Sure, Iowa and New Hampshire are obviously very important states in the 2024 race."

HOGAN KNOWS WHY BIDEN KEEPS BLASTING MAGA REPUBLICANS

"But I really am out here in New Hampshire trying to help the House Republican caucus and make sure that the Republicans can maintain their state legislative control," he said. "Ive been traveling around helping gubernatorial candidates and Senate candidates and congressional candidates where I think I can make a difference."

Hogan told Fox News that he looks forward to returning to New Hampshire in the autumn to help campaign for the GOPs nominees in the general election.

Biden vs. Trump

If you need more proof that Americans arent looking forward to a potential rematch of the 2020 presidential election between President Biden and Trump in 2024, check out the Quinnipiac national poll released this past week.

President Biden and former President Trump (Getty Images)

By a 62%-33% margin, those questioned in the survey said they didnt want to see Trump run in 2024. And by a 67%-26% margin, the public didnt want the president to seek re-election.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The one difference more than seven in ten Republicans surveyed said theyd like to see Trump launch another presidential campaign, while Democrats by a narrow 47%-43% wanted Biden to run for a second term.

If they do run, a Wall Street Journal poll released Thursday suggested Biden holding the advantage in the hypothetical matchup with 50% of registered voters nationwide saying they would definitely or probably vote for the president, and 44% saying the same of Trump.

Paul Steinhauser is a politics reporter based in New Hampshire.

More:
2024 Watch: Pence, Pompeo, Cruz, heading to New Hampshire this month - Fox News

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

New "The View" co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin said Monday she hopes to represent former President Trump's voters in the ABC show's Republican seat, although she has become one of his staunchest critics and hopes he never returns to the White House.

"I'm a millennial and I worked in the Trump administration," she said on ABC's "Good Morning America" in a segment previewing the show's upcoming season. "I've also since criticized the former president, but I still want to be a voice for the 74 million Americans who voted for him, and kind of tell them, from my experience, here's why I won't support him again, but here's what a future Republican Party can and should look like. So that's really what I'm hoping to meet the audience with."

Griffin held a number of key positions in the Trump administration, including Vice President Mike Pence's press secretary, Pentagon press secretary and White House communications director. Griffin resigned in December 2020, expressing pride in her time in the administration in her departing letter. Since Trump left office, Griffin has spoken out strongly against his stolen 2020 election rhetoric and become one of many Republican critics of Trump with lofty media perches.

Alyssa Farah Griffin previewed the upcoming season of "The View" on Monday. (Screenshot/ABC/TheView)

Earlier this year, she said, "As somebody who regrettably worked for Donald Trump, I do not want to see that man ever be president again." She has said some family members, including her father, skipped her wedding over her stance against Trump. Some liberals like MSNBC's Tiffany Cross have fumed at her selection by ABC due to ever being in the Trump orbit.

THE VIEW ANNOUNCES ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN, ANA NAVARRO AS NEW CO-HOSTS

"The View" kicks off its new season Tuesday. Griffin noted Hillary and Chelsea Clinton would be among the guests this week to promote their docu-series, calling the younger Clinton "fabulous" and adding "as a Republican," she was excited to question the elder Clinton.

"The View" may have two Republican spots now, but they are hardly reflective of their fellow party members, which polls show remain broadly supportive of Trump.

The other new "View" position announced last month went to Ana Navarro, who, while nominally a Republican, espouses liberal positions nearly across the board and openly supports President Biden and Democrats. She even worked for Biden's Latino outreach in Florida in 2020.

"There's a whole host of nuance in between both of the parties," Griffin said of her and Navarro, who are also both CNN commentators.

New "The View" co-hosts Alyssa Farah Griffin and Ana Navarro are strongly anti-Trump Republicans.

Griffin was selected for a seat on "The View" after making dozens of guest appearances over the past year as the show lacked a permanent right-leaning co-host. Former conservative co-host Meghan McCain quit the show last July, citing in part the toxic treatment she says she endured from figures like liberal co-host Joy Behar.

DESANTIS DIDN'T KNOW STAFF DECLINED THE VIEW INVITE, HAS NO INTEREST IN PARTISAN CORPORATE MEDIA

Griffin joked Monday she was sometimes scared of her but added Behar was good at cracking jokes to lighten the mood. McCain has said Behar's treatment of her contributed to her leaving the show.

In her guest appearances to date, while sitting in the token conservative chair, Griffin has been far more deferential to her liberal colleagues than McCain, who regularly irked left-leaning viewers as she clashed with Behar, Whoopi Goldberg and others.

Griffin, who describes herself as a national security conservative, suggested Monday the show will be more genial with her at the table.

Alyssa Farah Griffin joked Monday she's sometimes frightened of "The View" co-host Joy Behar. (Screenshot/ABC/TheView)

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

"As a Republican, the table skews to the left. I'm not going in trying to change everyone's mind," she said. "Merely to show the other viewpoint, show how nearly half the country sees some of these issues."

Gabriel Hays is an associate editor at Fox News. Follow him on Twitter at @gabrieljhays.

Originally posted here:
New 'The View' co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin wants to be 'voice' of Trump voters - Fox News