Mike Pence could have been killed

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Not enough attention has been paid to the fact that Mike Pence, his family, and every member of Congress, could have been killed in Trump’s terrorist attack on the US Capitol building this week.

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Photos from the insurrection show one Trump supporter inside the US Senate visitors’ gallery, appearing to carry a large number of zip-tie handcuffs.

Were the insurgents planning on taking hostages? Looks like it.

Worse yet, Mike Pence was presiding over a joint session of Congress, that at this point had broken into two individual sessions, House and Senate. Trump had already made clear that Pence was a traitor, in his eyes, for refusing to throw out the electoral votes from a number of states that Trump falsely claimed to have won. Several of the rioters were roaming the halls of Congress screaming “where’s Mike Pence?”

The mob appeared to be motivated in part by far-right social media sites Parler and Gab. From the Washington Post:

On Parler and Gab, the far-right-friendly social media sites, Trump followers urged the crowd in Washington to find and accost Vice President Pence, whom Trump had been pressuring to use his ceremonial role Wednesday to help overturn the election results. Within minutes, the chant arose from factions of the mob at the Capitol: “Where is Pence?”

Imagine the reaction of the mob had they gotten their hands on the man who refused to save their savior. And Pence wasn’t alone. The vice president was there with his wife, Karen, 27-year-old daughter, Charlotte, and Pence’s brother, Rep. Greg Pence (R-IN).

Mike isn’t the only Pence who could have been injured or killed during Trump’s coup attempt.

13 Days

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and incoming Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer have both called for Trump’s removal from office, either via the 25th Amendment or impeachment. Some have suggested that with only thirteen days to go until Biden’s inauguration on January 20, removing Trump is pointless. But is it?

Just look at the carnage Trump was able to wreak in one day. With thirteen more at his disposal, we could see violence at Joe Biden’s inauguration, violence at state capitals around the country, and let’s not forget that Trump has the entire United States nuclear arsenal at his disposal. There was already concern that Trump, in his final days in office, might try to start a war with Iran — just cuz. Trump is dead set on sabotaging Biden’s presidency, and handing him a war with Iran, and an exploding Middle East, is one sure way to do it.

There are some advantages to Trump being removed. First, we avoid possible nuclear war. But also, Trump loses the ability to pardon anyone else as soon as he’s out of office. (Not that Trump wouldn’t try to squeeze a bunch in at the last minute, including his fellow domestic terrorists who attacked the US Capitol.) But there’s another pardon-problem I worry about: Trump himself. At this point, it’s hard to imagine that Trump won’t try to pardon himself. The good news is that it’s not clear such a pardon is even legal. The pardon would have to be tested in court, by indicting Trump (which works for me). But if Trump steps down early, or is removed, it opens the door for Mike Pence to pardon his former boss. Now, sure, Trump just tried to kill Pence and his family, so you’d think there might be some lingering animosity between the two men. Still, I could see Pence doing the “Christian thing” and pardoning Trump.

There’s also the issue of the impact of impeachment versus the 25th Amendment, which might interest any Republicans thinking of running for president in 2024. If Trump is impeached, he can also be banned from running for federal office ever again. (The Senate has the power to punish Trump by convicting him of impeachment and either just removing him from office, or removing him from office and forbidding him from seeking federal office ever again.) With the 25th Amendment, Trump can run again. I could see Trump running again in 2024, to save face, but also to screw everyone who didn’t rally to his cause this time around. And then there’s the grift…