Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff, Marc Short, said he was denied entry Wednesday night back into the White House after Pence announced he would follow his constitutional duty to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election, according to Real Clear Politics reporter Philip Wegmann.
Short reportedly told Wegmann that he is not allowed back on White House grounds because “He’s (Trump’s) blaming me for advice to VP.”
CONFIRMED: Short tells me he is not allowed back on White House grounds: “He’s blaming me for advice to VP.” https://t.co/EnfYIidVMF
— Philip Melanchthon Wegmann (@PhilipWegmann) January 7, 2021
President Donald Trump has claimed several times that Pence can “reject” states’ chosen electors while he presides over the Senate for the certification process, but Pence said he would not object.
The president’s repeated claims that Pence can overturn the results are false.
The vice president does not have the power to object to any of the state electors’ votes. Congress alone was granted the ability to contest results by the Electoral Count Act of 1887.
“Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, giving States a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify. USA demands the truth!” Trump said in one Wednesday tweet.
Vice President Mike Pence presides over a joint session of Congress with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) on January 06, 2021 in Washington, DC. Congress held a joint session today to ratify President-elect Joe Biden’s 306-232 Electoral College win over President Donald Trump. (Photo by Saul Loeb – Pool/Getty Images)
Pro-Trump rioters stormed the Capitol building Wednesday, causing damage and postponing the certification process as members of Congress evacuated the building. (RELATED: Senate Aide Reportedly Seized Electoral College Ballots Before Chamber Was Stormed By Mob)
Pence announced Wednesday in a letter to Congress that he would not attempt to overturn the results of the presidential election.
“It is my considered judgment that my oath to support and defend the Constitution constrains me from claiming unilateral authority to determine which electoral votes should be counted and which should not,” Pence wrote. “I want to assure the American people that I will keep the oath I made to them and I will keep the oath I made to Almighty God.”
(This is a developing story. More information will be added as it becomes available.)
This post originally appeared on and written by:
Henry Rodgers
The Daily Caller 2021-01-07 05:58:00
