Mike Pence Gave This 'Nugget' of Evidence Against Trump in Book: Kirschner

Former Vice President Mike Pence may have dropped a crucial "nugget" of evidence against Donald Trump in his recent memoir, according to legal analyst Glenn Kirschner.

After multiple attempts to avoid speaking under oath, Pence on Thursday testified before a federal grand jury investigating Trump's involvement in plotting to overturn the 2020 election and fomenting the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Pence's testimony is considered by many to be vital to special counsel Jack Smith's investigation into the matter, as the former vice president was a key part of Trump's plan to overturn his loss to Joe Biden. Some have also suggested that Pence being called to testify indicates that Smith's probe could be considerably far along. Trump, meanwhile, has maintained his innocence in the case.

While his testimony, which reportedly lasted around five hours, is key to the investigation, Pence may have already dropped some important evidence against Trump in his recently published memoir, So Help Me God. Appearing on an episode of a YouTube series hosted by Brad Berkwitt, Kirschner, a veteran federal prosecutor who now provides legal analysis for numerous news outlets, said that the former vice president's description of a conversation with Trump in the book could be "devastating" if presented to a jury by prosecutors.

"There's one nugget in Mike Pence's book that is so devastating, and it's just this incriminating evidence from heaven, as far as a prosecutor is concerned," Kirschner said on Sunday. "When Donald Trump was pressuring and pressuring and pressuring Pence to do the wrong thing—and Pence to his credit, he's no hero, but he was resisting—Donald Trump said to him, 'You know what your problem is, Mike? You're too honest.'"

Kirschner continued: "Man, give me that statement and let me present it to a jury, because what Donald Trump announced was that what he was asking Mike Pence to do required dishonesty. And he was admitting to it, and what does that do...? It gives a jury powerful evidence of Donald Trump's criminal intent."

After failing to overturn state election results in various courts, Trump ultimately settled on a plan to remain in office after the 2020 election that was based on a legal theory presented to him by attorney John Eastman. The theory, which has since been widely debunked, suggested that Pence, in his capacity as president of the U.S. Senate, could refuse to certify the results of the election during the final certification process at the Capitol on January 6.

Pence refused to go along with this plan, leading a crowd of Trump supporters outside the Capitol to swarm the building in an attempt to allegedly stop the certification by force.

In a prior statement to Newsweek, a spokesperson for Trump dismissed Kirschner's credibility as a legal analyst and suggested that his views were broadly rejected by the legal community.

Newsweek reached out to Trump's press team via email for comment.