- A documentary crew captured the moment Mike Pence reportedly learned of Congress’ plans to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office
- The footage of the unreleased interview comes from a documentary that was recently subpoenaed by a Congress committee investigating the attack
- It was captured less than a week after pro-Trump rioters stormed the Capitol
- The 25th amendment gives the vice president, as well as most of the Cabinet, the power to declare the president unfit for office
- Congress approved the resolution on January 12, 2021 – but Pence, 63, shot it down, saying that it would ‘set a terrible precedent’
A documentary crew captured the moment Mike Pence reportedly learned of Congress’ plans to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove former President Trump from office after the January 6 Capitol riots, and replace him with the vice president.
In the clip, shot on January 12 2021, Pence could be seen reading an email on his phone, clearing his throat nervously and exclaiming ‘Yeah, excellent,’ before segueing back into political platitudes.
Documentary maker Alex Holder insists the awkward moment came as Pence read an email calling for Trump’s removal, and says the time stamp on his footage matches that of the time the email was sent. Pence denies this.
The footage of the unreleased interview, captured less than a week after pro-Trump rioters stormed the Capitol, comes from a documentary by Holder that was recently subpoenaed by a Congress committee investigating the attack.
The interview was held on January 12, 2021 – the day the House passed a resolution that called for Pence to replace Trump by way of the amendment.
The 25th Amendment gives the vice president, as well as most of the Cabinet, the power to declare the president unfit for office – a move that would have put Pence, 63, in charge of the country.
Congress approved the resolution – however, Pence shot it down, saying that it would ‘set a terrible precedent’ to invoke the law.
Footage from the interview obtained by CNN shows Pence first learning of Congress’ plans, as he is handed a phone with an email of a draft of the resolution by an aide.
The then vice president then flashes a seemingly forced smirk, and jokingly asks his aide to ‘tell Zach to print me off a hard copy for the trip home.’
Pence then proceeds with the rest of the interview, with the former Indiana governor later saying, ‘I am always hopeful about America,’ as a backdrop of crews erecting security fencing around the Capitol looms behind him.
The makers of the documentary, which chronicles Trumps ill-fated 2020 reelection campaign, assert Pence was shown a draft of the House resolution in the clip.
However, a Pence spokesman said Friday that characterization was false, and that the politician was actually reacting to a confirmation that his letter turning down the prospective coup.
‘In the documentary, Vice President Pence was reacting to a confirmation that his letter was sent to Speaker Pelosi rejecting her ploy to invoke 25th amendment,” the Pence spokesman said.
Pence notes the time of the email – 7:48 PM – in the clip, which is the exact time that the White House sent Pence’s letter to Pelosi, according to a timestamp on the email.
At the time, news of the letter was widely reported in the coming days.
Pence wrote in his letter: ‘Last week, I did not yield to pressure to exert power beyond my constitutional authority to determine the outcome of the election.’
‘I will not now yield to efforts in the House of Representatives to play political games at a time so serious in the life of our nation.’
The amendment was ratified by the states after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, so he could be replaced by then-VP Lyndon B. Johnson.
The House voted to impeach Trump for inciting the Capitol insurrection the day after the footage was filmed.
However, Trump was soon to be found not guilty for spurring the insurrection by the Senate, following a highly publicized trial.
A majority of senators voted to convict the then president, but failed to garner the required two-thirds majority.
Holder’s three-part documentary series, called ‘Unprecedented,’ offers a unique perspective on the innerworkings of the White House at these time, with his team conducting interviews with Trump, Pence, Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner, Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and more.