A former Department of Justice official said Saturday that Donald Trump “induced a murderous rage” in the mob that stormed the Capitol during the insurrection last year, and risked former Vice President Mike Pence’s life.
The mob was ready to “tear Pence limb from limb,” former Deputy Assistant Attorney General Harry Litman noted on MSNBC Saturday. It was “as dark as it gets,” added Litman, who called it a “set up” by Trump.
Litman angrily responded to a chilling video of Trump supporters on Jan. 6, 2021, in which one can be heard saying that “Pence just caved,” before adding that “we’re going to drag motherf**kers through the streets.”
Trump already knew by then that Pence would aid Trump’s effort to overturn the 2020 election, noted Litman. Yet he still targeted Pence in his speech to supporters before they breached the Capitol building.
“Trump goes out to the crowd and pretends … it’s all up to Pence,” Litman emphasized. “He knows that Pence has already decided, but keeping it open like that is designed to induce the murderous rage in the crowd when they do find out,” Litman added.
Once Trump’s supporters discovered Pence was not going to reject the electoral votes cast for Joe Biden in key states, the crowd became “absolutely inflamed,” he continued.
“We have testimony … that it was no joke,” Litman said, referring to the hearings of the House select committee investigating the insurrection. “They were ready to tear him [Pence] limb from limb. So Trump plays this dishonestly in such a way to rev the crowd up to its maximum level of violence. Really sinister,” he added.
Check out Litman’s interview in the video below. His discussion about the “murderous” mob begins after 4:14: