Trump Told Pence ‘You’re Too Honest’ When He Balked at Jan. 6 Scheme – Rolling Stone

The new indictment of Donald Trump on conspiracy charges related to his attempts to subvert the results of the 2020 election makes clear that the then-president not only made false claims about who won the presidency, but “knew that they were false.”

Trump’s tortured relationship with the truth is highlighted in an exchange he allegedly had with Vice President Mike Pence on Jan. 1, 2021. Trump, the indictment says, called Pence and “berated him” because Pence opposed efforts to claim that he alone had the power, in his ceremonial role presiding over the counting of the votes of the Electoral College, to reject the official tallies from the states.

As recounted in the indictment, Pence told Trump that — as he understood the laws of our land — there was no constitutional authority invested in the vice president to make such a move.

Trump then allegedly lit into Pence, telling him: “You’re too honest.”

The indictment links Trump’s frustration with this exchange with Pence to an action he took just hours later, when he attempted to turn up the heat on Pence by drawing his angry supporters to Washington, D.C.

“The BIG Protest Rally in Washington, D.C., will take place at 11.00 A.M. on January 6th.” Trump tweeted, adding “StopTheSteal!”