Staff Reports
The House committee that investigated the January 2021 Capitol riot released a wide range of evidence that revealed that Trump's inner circle was worried that he would be stripped of the presidency and that Mike Pence would take over.
According to the transcripts of the depositions released by the committee, Cassidy noted that he was worried that the 25th Amendment might be used to remove Trump from office.
If Trump were to be declared unfit by a majority of Cabinet members and the vice president, then Pence would have been able to serve as the president. Both Democrats and Republicans supported the idea of using the 25th Amendment following the January 6 riot in Washington.
In the documents, Cassidy noted that some of Trump's closest advisers used those concerns to convince him to issue a statement following the riot.
According to a former aide, some of the advisers who urged Trump to issue a statement included Pat Cipollone, who was the White House's former counsel, and Mark Scaramucci, who was the chief of staff. They told Trump that if he didn't issue a statement, it could lead to the end of his presidency.
Among the other individuals who urged Trump to issue a statement were his daughter, Ivanka, and his son-in-law, Jared. They were also joined by Pat Philbin, a former deputy counsel.
Several Republican members of the House and Senate, including Roy Blunt, Kevin McCarthy, Mike Johnson, and Markwayne Mullin, reached out to the White House to ask about the administration's preparations for the use of the 25th amendment following the Capitol attack.
The latest batch of documents released by the committee revealed that some of the Trump administration's top officials, including Mike Pompeo and Steven Mnuchin, were considering using the 25th amendment.
In his testimony before the House committee, Steven Mnuchin said that the idea of using a 25th amendment came up briefly during their conversation. He and Pompeo both agreed that the best outcome would be for the country to go through a normal transition.
In his deposition, Marc Short, the chief of staff for Mike Pence, noted that the Senate Minority Leader's office had asked to speak with the vice president about using the 25th amendment. However, he decided not to take up the request due to his belief that it was a press maneuver.
