Witness: Pence Security Team Called Family to Say Goodbye

Just how dicey did things get in regard to Mike Pence on Jan. 6, 2021? Members of the vice president's Secret Service security team "were starting to fear for their own lives," a witness whose identity was not revealed told the panel, per CNN. "There were calls to say goodbye to family members." The panel also played previously unheard radio chatter among Secret Service members. “If we lose any more time, we may … lose the ability to leave," one agent says in a transmission, per the Hill. "So, if we’re going to leave, we need to do it now." Protesters were famously chanting "Hang Mike Pence" at the scene, seeing his decision to go ahead with the certification of election results as traitorous.

“I think there were discussions of reinforcements coming, but again, it was just chaos, they were just yelling,” the witness said of the agents. “If they’re running out of options and they’re getting nervous—it sounds like we came very close to either Service having to use lethal options or worse.” The panel noted that as this concern about Pence was unfolding, former President Trump tweeted a condemnation of his VP at 2:24pm, saying Pence lacked "courage." (More Jan. 6 hearings stories.)