A former Justice Department official said on Saturday that Donald Trump “caused a murderous rage” in the mob that stormed the Capitol during the uprising last year, endangering the life of former Vice President Mike Pence has.
The crowd was ready to “tear Pence limb from limb,” former Deputy Assistant Attorney General Harry Litman remarked on MSNBC on Saturday. It was “as dark as it can get,” Litman added, calling it a “setup” by Trump.
Litman reacted angrily to a cold video from Trump supporters on January 6, 2021, in which one can be heard saying that “Pence has just said goodbye,” before adding that “we are going to drag mother animals through the streets.”
Trump already knew by then that Pence would help Trump’s attempt to overthrow the 2020 election, Litman noted. Yet he still targeted Pence in his speech to supporters before trespassing on the Capitol building.
“Trump goes out to the crowd and pretends … it all depends on Pence,” Litman stressed. “He knows Pence has already decided, but keeping it that way is designed to cause the murderous rage in the crowd when they do find out,” Litman added.
Once Trump’s supporters discovered that Pence was not going to reject the election votes cast for Joe Biden in key states, the crowd became “absolutely incensed,” he continued.
“We have evidence … that it was not a joke,” Litman said, referring to the hearings of the House House selection committee investigating the uprising. “They were ready to tear him apart. [Pence] limb of limb. Trump is therefore playing it dishonest in such a way as to raise the crowd to its maximum level of violence. Really sinister, “he added.
Watch Litman’s interview in the video below. His discussion of the “murderous” mob begins after 4:14:
