Pence Reacts to Trump’s Latest Indictment: ‘Georgia Election Was Not Stolen’

Vice President Mike Pence hands the electoral certificate from the state of Arizona to Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) as he presides over a joint session of Congress to certify the 2020 election results on Capitol Hill in Washington on Jan.6, 2021. (Saul Loeb/Pool via Reuters)

Former Vice President Mike Pence responded to the Fulton County, Georgia, indictment of former President Donald J. Trump, saying that “no one’s above the law” and that “the Georgia election was not stolen.”

“Now, this week comes another indictment regarding the former president’s conduct in the days leading up to the close of our administration,” Mr. Pence, who is one of President Trump’s rivals for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, said during an Aug. 16 appearance at the National Conference of State Legislatures in Indianapolis.

“I’ve said many times that I hope the judgment about those days will be left to the American people and to history. Such is not the case,” he continued.

“No one’s above the law, and the president and all those implicated are entitled to the presumption of innocence that every American enjoys,” Mr. Pence said.

Late in the evening on Aug. 14, a Fulton County jury handed up an indictment of President Trump and 18 others, including former Trump attorneys Jenna Ellis and Rudy Giuliani, former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, and John Eastman.

Mr. Eastman wrote the memo that outlined what he later called “the most aggressive claims of vice-presidential power” whereby Mr. Pence could theoretically have decided the outcome of the 2020 election in favor of Mr. Trump.

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Although the indictment lists other charges, every individual listed was charged under Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act.

Constitutional Authority

“Despite what the former president and his allies have said for now more than two-and-a-half years, and continue to insist at this very hour, the Georgia election was not stolen, and I had no right to overturn the election,” Mr. Pence said to applause from the crowd.

“I hardly need to tell state legislators that states conduct our elections for national leadership. States certify those elections. And under Article II [of the Constitution], the only role of Vice President of the United States as President of the Senate is to preside over a joint session of Congress, where objections under the law might be heard, but where the electoral votes certified by the states would be opened and counted–[it] said that they shall be opened and they shall be counted, no more and no less,” the former vice president told the conference attendees.

He once again defended his actions on Jan. 6.

“I'll always believe by God’s grace I did my duty that day to see to the peaceful transfer of power under the Constitution of the United States and the laws of this country,” Mr. Pence added.

The run-up to Jan. 6 was characterized by debate over Mr. Pence’s authority as Senate president as well as state legislatures’ authority under Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution, according to which states may appoint electors “in such manner as the Legislature thereof may direct.”

Georgia was one of several states that produced an alternate slate of electors on Dec. 14, 2020, based on allegations of election fraud.

Some commentators have contended that Mr. Pence had the power under the 12th Amendment to choose those alternate electors.

Lawrence Wilson contributed to the report.