Mike Pence's Secret Evidence Against Trump Could Prove Key in Indictment

Former Vice President Mike Pence recorded numerous notes discussing his conversations about Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election that are cited in the former president's latest indictment.

Pence, who has long been considered a potential key witness in the federal inquiry, may now have provided damning evidence against his former close ally as the Department of Justice highlights the "contemporaneous notes" he kept.

The allegations may prove that Trump pushed forward with his attempts to overturn the 2020 election, despite knowing the plot had no legal merit.

Trump is facing four criminal charges as part of Special Counsel Jack Smith's investigation into the events which led up to the January 6 attack. The frontrunner in the 2024 GOP primary has denied any wrongdoing and accused Smith of "election interference" with his probe.

Newsweek contacted Trump and Pence's offices for comment via email on Wednesday.

Trump and Pence's relationship fell apart in the aftermath of the January 6 attack, during which supporters of the former president were heard shouting "hang mike Pence" while backing Trump's false election-fraud cries and his claims that the vice president had the power to reject the results.

In the 45-page indictment detailing the allegations against Trump, prosecutors note how Pence had resisted and rejected Trump's "knowingly false claims" of election fraud and his pressuring of the then vice president to use his ceremonial role at the certification proceeding on January 6, 2021, to fraudulently overturn the election results.

The indictment cites examples taken directly from Pence's "contemporaneous notes" that he kept in late 2020 and early 2021 about his conversations with Trump.

Pence would later describe how Trump repeatedly pressured him to block the congressional certification of the election on January 6.

"On December 29 [2020], as reflected in the Vice President's contemporaneous notes, the Defendant falsely told the Vice President that the 'Justice Dept was finding major infractions,'" the indictment states.

The indictment also details a meeting held on January 4, 2021, two days before the Capitol riot, in which Trump is alleged to have further pressured Pence to reject the electoral votes during his purely ceremonial role of presiding officer of the Senate.

The meeting took place between Trump, Pence and "Co-Conspirator 2"—one of six people not named in the indictment who are accused of helping Trump in his efforts. Co-Conspirator 2 is believed to be Eastman.

"During the meeting, as reflected in the Vice President's contemporaneous notes, [Trump] made knowingly false claims of election fraud, including, 'bottom line—won every state by 100,000s of votes' and 'we won every state,'" the indictment states.

Trump and Eastman are then alleged to have asked Pence to either unilaterally reject the slate of legitimate electors from the seven targeted states which President Joe Biden had won fairly, or send the question of which slate was legitimate to the targeted states legislatures.

When Pence asked Eastman if returning the question to the states was legally defensible, Eastman allegedly replied: "Well, nobody's tested it before."

"The Vice President then told [Trump], 'Did you hear that? Even your own counsel is not saying I have that authority.' The Defendant responded, 'That's okay, I prefer the other suggestion' of the Vice President rejecting the electors unilaterally,'" the indictment added.

Elsewhere, the indictment notes that Trump had allegedly pressured Pence to overturn the election results during a Christmas Day phonecall in 2020.

"On December 25, when the Vice President called the Defendant to wish him a Merry Christmas, the Defendant quickly turned the conversation to January 6 and his request that the Vice President reject electoral votes that day," the document reads. "The Vice President pushed back, telling the Defendant, as the Vice President already had in previous conversations 'You know I don't think I have the authority to change the outcome.'"

The indictment also details a conversation between the pair on January 1, 2021. Pence is said to have again informed Trump that he didn't have the constitutional power to stop the votes from being certified, to which Trump allegedly replied: "You're too honest."

In a series of tweets on Tuesday, Pence, a fellow 2024 candidate, said the indictment against Trump is an "important" reminder that "anyone who puts himself over the Constitution should never be President of the United States."

Pence added: "As Americans, his candidacy means less attention paid to Joe Biden's disastrous economic policies afflicting millions across the United States and to the pattern of corruption with Hunter [Biden].

"Our country is more important than one man. Our constitution is more important than any one man's career. On January 6th, Former President Trump demanded that I choose between him and the Constitution. I chose the Constitution and I always will."