McCaul: Pence Avoided 'Constitutional Crisis'

Former Vice President Mike Pence "avoided a major constitutional crisis" by authenticating the votes for the 2020 election on Jan. 6 rather than agreeing with then-President Donald Trump to overturn the election, Rep. Michael McCaul said Sunday.

"Vice President Pence exercised moral clarity and judgment that day by doing his constitutional responsibility, authenticating the votes and counting them," the Texas Republican said on CBS's "Face the Nation." He also said he agrees with Pence's contention that it would have been un-American to reject the certification of the votes leading to the win for President Joe Biden.

"There was a dark, dark day; and I think history will judge everyone by what they did that day," said McCaul, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

On Saturday night, Pence sharply criticized Trump about the events of Jan. 6, telling the annual Gridiron Dinner that the former president had been "wrong" with his actions after the 2020 election, including pushing him to toss out or delay counting the Electoral College votes.

"I had no right to overturn the election, and his reckless words endangered my family and everyone at the Capitol that day. And I know history will hold Donald Trump accountable for his actions," Pence said.

He also rejected characterizations of the protests as peaceful "sightseeing," telling his audience that tourists "don't injure 140 police officers" or "break down doors to get to the speaker of the House" when they are sightseeing.

McCaul, though, while commenting on House Speaker Kevin McCarthy allowing access to Jan. 6 footage to Fox News' Tucker Carlson, said Americans "deserve to see all the footage from that day," but not to cast any doubts about what had happened.

"The American people deserve to see all the footage from that day," he said. "The footage is not going to be, you know, tourism at the Capitol. It's going to show a very dark, tragic day that I witnessed firsthand. That included our Capitol Police being assaulted, 140 of them injured, two pipe bombs, one Capitol Police officer killed, and a protester killed. That's not a good day."