CNN Legal Analyst Says the ‘New’ Mike Pence Would Be a ‘Heck of a Witness’ Against Trump
While Republicans and the right continue to build their defense of former President Donald Trump after his third indictment, one surprising voice has come out against him, that of former Vice President Mike Pence. That voice, according to a CNN legal analyst, could mean trouble for Trump if he takes the witness stand.
Pence, who is running for president in the GOP primary, made waves on Wednesday when he defended himself for following the Constitution during the presidential transition, calling the lawyers advising Trump “crackpot[s]” and drawing a distinct line between himself and his former boss. On Thursday, CNN played Pence’s appearance on Fox News when he doubled down on his “crackpot” comments and stated that Trump and his advisors “demanded” that he reject the electoral votes for President Joe Biden on January 6. While Pence stopped short of calling Trump’s actions criminal, it was a new tone for the even-keeled Pence, and CNN News Central‘s anchors Kate Bolduan and John Berman were taken aback, Berman saying as he introduced the Fox clip “it’s possible we saw a new Mike Pence yesterday.”
Turning to their legal analysts, Michael Waldman of the Brennan Center for Justice and former federal prosecutor Jennifer Rodgers, Waldman said that if this version of Pence took the witness stand against Trump, he’d have a lot to say — for the prosecution:
If he talks like that on the witness stand, he’s a heck of a witness. One of the new facts in the indictment is that at one point, when he refused to reject the electoral votes, Trump said to Pence, “You’re just too honest.” And that is that is a pretty powerful bit of evidence of corrupt intent. Pence, if you remember, he wouldn’t cooperate with the January 6 Committee, but he clearly cooperated and felt he had no choice but to cooperate with this criminal process. And he may just be saying, this is where I really need to to speak up. I have no choice.
Watch the video above via CNN.
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