There’s an obscure crime special counsel Jack Smith might be looking to charge Trump with: ex-DOJ official

Former Justice Department official Mary McCord penned a column for MSNBC in which she suggested one of the crimes that special counsel Jack Smith might be looking at relates to former Vice President Mike Pence.

Last week, Pence was discovered to have spent a full day with the grand jury around the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol and attempt to overthrow the 2020 election.

McCord noted that thus far, the conversation has centered around former President Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the election and incite a riot. She feels it's neglecting one key piece of the legal possibilities: Trump solicited Pence to commit a felony.

"The U.S. Code makes it a crime to solicit any other person to engage in conduct that is a felony under federal law involving the use, attempted use or threatened use of physical force against a person (in other words, a federal felony that is a crime of violence)," wrote McCord. "Under this statute, the government must prove the defendant intended the person to commit a crime of violence and that the defendant 'under circumstances strongly corroborative of that intent, solicit[ed], command[ed], induce[ed], or otherwise endeavor[ed] to persuade' the other person to engage in such conduct."

She specifically cited the Jan. 4, 2021, meeting in the Oval Office in which Trump, Pence and lawyer John Eastman among others, were on hand to debate whether Pence could refuse to accept the certification of the election. Pence writes about it in his book in which he explains that even Eastman acknowledged it wouldn't make it through the Supreme Court.

But in Georgia that night, Trump continued public pressure on Pence, saying, “I hope Mike Pence comes through for us.” He called Pence as a “great vice president,” but “of course, if he doesn’t come through, I won’t like him quite as much.”

Trump then tweeted the following day, “The Vice President has the power to reject fraudulently chosen electors.”

Pence's book goes on to say that later that day, Trump called him into the office again, where the two met alone. Pence made it clear the law wasn't on Trump's side.

“These people cheated, and you want to play by Marquess of Queensberry rules,” Trump said, according to Pence's book. "Hundreds of thousands are gonna hate your guts.”

Trump then said in a statement that he and Pence were on the same page. They weren't.

Trump went on to tweet that all Pence had to do was "send them back to the States (sic), AND WE WIN. Do it Mike, this is a time for extreme courage!"

The two then had a phone call in which Trump was screaming at Pence for being a "wimp" and a "p--sy."

Trump told his crowd at the Ellipse on Jan. 6: “I hope Mike is going to do the right thing. … Because if Mike Pence does the right thing, we win the election. … He has the absolute right to do it.”

He told them they would walk down to the Capitol together, with him too. “You’ll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength, and you have to be strong. … We fight like hell, and if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.”

So, Trump's supporters marched to the Capitol. Trump told his Twitter followers that Pence had abandoned them. So, the group built a gallows and began chanting, "Hang Mike Pence" while searching for him in the Capitol.

There is testimony from top White House aides who confirm the account, including Mark Meadows feeling hopeless because Trump believed that Pence should be hanged.

"It’s no defense that the Secret Service was successful in whisking Pence away before the mob could catch him," explained McCord. "The law does not require that the crime of violence be completed. That leaves just two questions: Did Trump intend for the attackers to commit a crime of violence against his vice president, and 'under circumstances strongly corroborative of that intent,' did Trump solicit, command, induce or otherwise endeavor to persuade them to do so?"

That's for Smith to decide, she closed.

Read the full column here.