'Too hurtful to my friend': Pence told Smith’s team he wanted to 'let someone else' certify election

Former Vice President Mike Pence told investigators on special counsel Jack Smith’s team that he initially decided to “let someone else preside over the proceedings on Jan. 6” — an idea originally floated by former President Donald Trump, ABC News reports.

In a bombshell report, ABC News details what Pence — “the highest-ranking current or former government official known” to have spoken with Smith’s team — told investigators probing efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

“Behind closed doors,” Pence was “pressed … on personal notes he took after meetings with Trump and others, which investigators obtained from the National Archives.”

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Per the report, “One of Pence's notes obtained by Smith's team shows that, days before Pence was set to preside over Congress certifying the election results on Jan. 6, 2021, he momentarily decided that he would skip the proceedings altogether, writing in the note that there were ‘too many questions’ and it would otherwise be ‘too hurtful to my friend.’ But he ultimately concluded he had a duty to show up.

Pence’s note, according to ABC News, read:

Not feeling like I should attend electoral count. Too many questions, too many doubts, too hurtful to my friend. Therefore I'm not going to participate in certification of election.

“Pence could take the stand against Trump should Smith's election interference case go to trial, which is currently slated to occur in March,” ABC News adds.

Read the full report at ABC News.

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