Roger Stone, a prominent ally of former President Donald Trump, attacked former Vice President Mike Pence in a Thursday post on the messaging platform Telegram, calling him a "disloyal POS."
Pence drew Trump's ire after he declined to go along with an unconstitutional effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election result on January 6, 2021. Trump on Tuesday called for Pence to be investigated for declining to help. In an official statement, the former president said House investigators should probe why Pence "did not send back the vote for recertification or approval" to the states, insisting that his vice president had "the right to do so."
Stone on Thursday shared a Substack article written by Emerald Robinson, titled The Treachery of VP Mike Pence Explained to his channel on Telegram. In the post, Stone, who was officially pardoned by Trump, attacked Pence.
"If you ever had any doubt whatsoever that former Vice President Mike Pence was a duplicitous, disloyal POS, this stunning article will remove any doubt. Pence and his staff of 'political advisors' were working to undermine President Trump [and replace him with Mike Pence] from day ONE," Stone wrote in the post.
Newsweek reached out to Pence's press representatives for comment but did not hear back in time for publication.
Trump lost the 2020 election to President Joe Biden but continues to claim that the result was due to widespread fraud or to the election being "stolen." No evidence has been brought forward or emerged corroborating his allegations.
On January 6, 2021, Trump and his allies wanted Pence to overstep his ceremonial role and reject the Electoral College votes of several key swing states. Pence refused to comply with the request, which many critics have described as an attempted "coup."
"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 in a January 6, 2021, letter to Trump.
Hours later, Trump supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol in an apparent effort to disrupt the formal certification of Biden's victory. Many of the rioters chanted slogans against Pence, with some even suggesting they wanted to "hang" the vice president. Late last month, Pence told Fox News that he hasn't spoken to his former boss in months.
Pence said in the interview with Fox News host Jesse Watters that the last time he spoke with Trump was "last summer." He also asserted that he still believes he did his "duty under the Constitution" and insisted that he and Trump eventually parted ways amicably.
Trump has attempted to shield Pence's records from the House select committee investigating the January 6 violence. But the National Archives and Records Administration will release the records, according to a Tuesday letter sent from U.S. archivist David Ferriero to the former president. Ferriero said that the records would be delivered to the House investigators by March 3 "unless prohibited by court order."
Trump issued a formal pardon for Stone in December of 2020, about a month before he left the White House. Stone had been sentenced to 40 months in prison for his role in the Russian election meddling investigation. Since then, Stone has been a key promoter of Trump's election claims.
Ballot audits and recounts across the country have consistently reaffirmed Biden's victory. More than 60 legal challenges to the election brought by Trump and his supporters failed in state and federal courts. Even judges appointed by Trump and other Republicans ruled against the legal challenges.
Former Attorney General William Barr, who was widely viewed as one of Trump's most loyal Cabinet members, asserted that there is "no evidence" of widespread fraud that would change the election's outcome.
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency at the Department of Homeland Security described the 2020 election as the "most secure in American history" while the agency was still led by a Trump appointee.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Jason Lemon is a Weekend Editor at Newsweek based in Brooklyn, New York. Prior to taking on the editor role, Jason's reporting focused on ... Read more
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