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Vice President Mike Pence received a memento from his aides the other day: the engraved chair set aside for him in the White House Cabinet Room, hauled over-the-shoulder from the West Wing and delivered to the Eisenhower Executive Office Building for one of his final staff meetings.

Instead of applause, many of Trump's aides -- even those who have stuck with him through myriad scandals and embarrassments -- were voicing shame and disappointment. His circle has shrunk. Many have resigned and others are still considering it.

On Monday, after an extended period of silence, Trump and Pence spoke for the first time after a deadly riot of Trump supporters broke out at the US Capitol with Pence inside, according to two administration officials.

One-term President Donald Trump, who lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden by over seven million votes, is reportedly pressuring Pence to take steps to overturn the will of the people.

Fortunately, the US Constitution offers Pence no way to stop the process as he presides over the joint session of the House and Senate next week, a process that Biden presided over four years ago when Trump's victory was certified).

Nevertheless, Pence could aid Republicans as they deliver speeches that will delay the outcome and add to the sense, among Trump loyalists, that he was cheated out of re-election. In doing so, Pence could stake his claim to the Trump legacy -- a populist base composed of millions -- and get a boost for his own political futur

Vice President Mike Pence's four years of faithful service to his boss, President Donald Trump, will culminate this week in a ceremonial act he's under increasing pressure to thwart.

"The Vice President has the power to reject fraudulently chosen electors," Trump declared falsely on Tuesday

"I hope Mike Pence comes through for us, I have to tell you," Trump said Monday night during a political rally in Georgia, where his public arm-twisting was met with cheers. "Of course, if he doesn't come through, I won't like him as much."

Mr. Trump was enraged that Mr. Pence was refusing to try to overturn the election. In a series of meetings, the president had pressed relentlessly, alternately cajoling and browbeating him. Finally, just before Mr. Pence headed to the Capitol to oversee the electoral vote count last Wednesday, Mr. Trump called the vice president’s residence to push one last time.

Evacuated to the basement, Mr. Pence huddled for hours while Mr. Trump tweeted out an attack on him rather than call to check on his safety.It was an extraordinary rupture of a partnership that had survived too many challenges to count.

“Pence had a choice between his constitutional duty and his political future, and he did the right thing,” said John Yoo, a legal scholar consulted by Mr. Pence’s office. “I think he was the man of the hour in many ways — for both Democrats and Republicans. He did his duty even though he must have known, when he did it, that that probably meant he could never become president.”

He set the tone at the first full cabinet meeting in 2017, when he kicked off the infamous, 11-minute, roundtable praise-fest for Trump by saying, "It is the greatest privilege of my life to serve as the vice president to a president who is keeping his word to the American people." After each cabinet member took turns lavishing praise on the president, Glenn Thrush of The New York Times called it "the most exquisitely awkward public event I've ever seen."

But the relationship between Pence and Trump all but disintegrated on January 6, 2021, when insurrectionists who believed Trump's lie that the 2020 election had been "stolen" broke into and overran the US Capitol.

And while Trump was aware Pence had been evacuated to a secure location during the attack, the former president never attempted to contact him directly.

Former Vice President Mike Pence said Thursday night that he doubts that he and former President Donald Trump will ever see "eye to eye" over the Jan. 6 insurrection led by a mob of pro-Trump supporters at the U.S. Capitol.

In a speech to a Republican group in New Hampshire, Pence called Jan. 6 "a dark day in the history of the United States Capitol,

Pence was at the Capitol that day to oversee the counting of electoral votes, a normally ceremonial task that was interrupted by the Trump supporters, some of whom shouted "Hang Mike Pence," and forced lawmakers and the vice president to evacuate.

Mike Pence scored a narrow win over Tim Kaine in the vice presidential debate Tuesday night, according to a CNN/ORC instant poll, with 48% of voters who watched the debate saying Pence did the better job while 42% think Kaine had the best night

just 14% said he did worse than they thought he would

with 43% saying he did worse than they expected and 38% saying he outperformed their expectations.

After Vice President Mike Pence excoriated China and American companies that he accused of selling out their principles to do business there, a sharp response from Beijing was to be expected. But perhaps not this sharp.

Mr. Pence is one the Trump administration’s most vehement critics of China, and on Thursday he denounced American companies that he said had compromised American values like free speech to appease the Chinese Communist Party.

Ms. Hua stepped up to the podium to brief reporters in Beijing, made some announcements about diplomatic activities, and before a reporter could ask a question, unleashed a denunciation of Mr. Pence and his allies that lasted more than six minutes, lobbing virtually every stock taunt that the Chinese government keeps for such occasions.

(CNN)A US Secret Service inspector who helped coordinate then-Vice President Mike Pence's trip to the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, testified on Monday that Pence spent several hours in a loading dock underneath the building during the riot.The revelation -- during the second trial for a defendant charged in the Capitol attack -- is the first time that federal law enforcement has confirmed where Pence went after he was evacuated from the Senate chamber on January 6.

"We took him to a secure location ... underground," Secret Service inspector Lanelle Hawa testified. "It was in the loading dock," which is located underneath the plaza on the Senate side of the building, she said.Read MoreHawa said the loading dock counted as a restricted area, established for the Electoral College certification, as did the Capitol grounds. When asked by prosecutors whether Pence ever left that restricted area, Hawa said, "No."

Griffin's legal defense team made it clear before the trial that they wanted to ask about Pence's location during the riot and about the restricted area established for his visit -- appearing to set up the argument that the area was no longer restricted because Pence left. Days before the trial, McFadden allowed Griffin's attorneys to cross examine the Secret Service inspector on Pence's location during the riot, writing that "Griffin must be allowed to test the veracity of the Government's contention that Vice President Pence was on the Capitol grounds during the relevant period."After a half an hour of Griffin's attorney, Nicholas Smith, questioning the inspector, McFadden told Smith that he had not established that Pence had left the restricted area.

s Hackers accessed a private email account Pence used for official business as Indiana governor

Vice President Pence used a private email account that was later compromised while he served as governor of Indiana, his office confirmed Thursday. The existence of the account was first reported by the Indy Star, which obtained copies of Pence's emails through a Freedom of Information request. The paper reported that Pence used the account to conduct government business, including corresponding about potentially sensitive issues. In one exchange, Pence communicated with his chief of staff and his top homeland security adviser, who conveyed an update about terror-related FBI arrests in the state. However, the information in those emails was reported widely in the media at the time.

According to an aide, additional security measures were taken to protect Pence's accounts after he was chosen as Trump's vice president. Emails in both accounts were preserved and are expected to be managed according to Indiana's public records laws, the aide added.

Former Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday described systemic racism as a “left-wing myth” during a speech hosted by a Republican group in New Hampshire, adopting the racial politics of his former boss, President Donald J. Trump.

The speech illustrated the careful balance Mr. Pence is aiming to strike in squaring the rhetoric of the Republican Party under Mr. Trump while standing by his opposition to Mr. Trump’s attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

Republicans have launched an energetic campaign in recent months aiming to dictate how historical and modern racism in America is taught in schools, and Mr. Pence indicated his support of efforts to ban critical race theory through legislation advanced in Republican-led states. Mr. Pence had previously targeted critical race theory in tweets and in his first speech in April after leaving office.

Mr. Trump was enraged that Mr. Pence was refusing to try to overturn the election. In a series of meetings, the president had pressed relentlessly, alternately cajoling and browbeating him.

It was an extraordinary rupture of a partnership that had survived too many challenges to count.

The loyal lieutenant who had almost never diverged from the president, who had finessed every other possible fracture, finally came to a decision point he could not avoid. He would uphold the election despite the president and despite the mob. And he would pay the price with the political base he once hoped to harness for his own run for the White House

A federal judge threw out a lawsuit that challenges President-elect Joe Biden's victory Friday, as Congress moves toward finalizing the results of the 2020 election.

The January certification of states' electoral votes, overseen by the vice president, is usually considered a formality. But a lawsuit filed last week by Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, sought to upend the process.

In some key battleground states, groups of Republicans have baselessly declared themselves to be "alternate electors," claiming to represent the true wishes of the voters. Gohmert and the other plaintiffs — including a group of self-proclaimed electors from Arizona — argued that when confronted with competing slates of electors, the Constitution gives Vice President Pence, as the Senate's presiding officer, the power to choose which electors to certify.

A Democratic member of President Donald Trump’s voter fraud probe said it should urgently disclose what it’s been working on and its future plans, or else disband entirely. Alan King, a probate judge in Jefferson County, Alabama, is one of four Democrats on the 11-member Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity. He told HuffPost on Tuesday that he was disappointed in how the commission had conducted business and wouldn’t be surprised if other members of the panel had already drafted a recommendation to the president. “Based on what I’ve read and accounts, it wouldn’t surprise me,” King said. “It wouldn’t surprise me if this whole commission was set up and they had an end result in mind when this commission was first originated.”

While he added that it was possible “that there are maybe some pockets of folks on both sides of the aisle who perhaps haven’t followed the rules,” he continued, “it’s a huge leap to go from that type of scenario to then go to to this massive plot, conspiracy of almost election mafia standards, to think that there are massive, widespread voting fraud in the United States.” 

As some Democrats on the commission have begun openly questioning their fellow commissioners’ activities, Democrats in Congress have asked the Government Accountability Office to review whether the panel is complying with transparency requirements. Several federal lawsuits have also sought to block the commission from operating, alleging it is not complying with federal transparency and privacy requirements. Critics of the panel characterize it as an effort to weaken confidence in American elections, saying it aims to lay the groundwork for more restrictive voting laws and substantiate Trump’s claim that millions voted illegally last year (several studies and investigations have shown voter fraud is not a widespread problem). Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, the commission’s chair, have pledged that the panel would be bipartisan and neutral.

Just A Reminder That Trump Has Still Provided Zero Evidence Of Voter Fraud

President Donald Trump still hasn’t provided any evidence of voter fraud in the U.S., despite repeatedly claiming that it’s a widespread issue and that thousands of people voted illegally in New Hampshire in November. 

Trump, who has tapped Vice President Mike Pence to lead an investigation into the issue, first made the New Hampshire claim last month during a closed-door Oval Office meeting with Democratic and Republican senators. The president told the group that he lost the state and that former Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R) didn’t retain her seat because thousands of people had been bused in to the state to vote illegally.

Mike Pence used his AOL email for state business as governor – and was hacked

“Government emails involving his state and personal accounts are being archived by the state consistent with Indiana law, and are being managed according to Indiana’s Access to Public Records Act.” Some observers made fun of Pence for using AOL, now seen as old fashioned compared to providers such as Gmail. “Pence is the grandpa we all think he is,” tweeted Julia Ioffe, a writer at the Atlantic.

The House of Representatives is expected to vote Tuesday on a measure calling for President Donald Trump to be removed from office through the 25th Amendment in the wake of the violent siege of the US Capitol last week.

The resolution, brought forward by Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, calls on Vice President Mike Pence "to immediately use his powers under section 4 of the 25th Amendment to convene and mobilize the principal officers of the executive departments in the Cabinet to declare what is obvious to a horrified nation: That the President is unable to successfully discharge the duties of his office."

Approval of the resolution by the Democratic-led House will stand as a symbolic rebuke to the President as many lawmakers are furious and reeling from the deadly attack on the Capitol by Trump supporters seeking to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

At 8 a.m. on Friday, Vice President Mike Pence will roll up his sleeve to receive the coronavirus vaccine, a televised symbol of reassurance for vaccine skeptics worried about its dangers.

Public health officials said they were pleased that the vice president was going to be vaccinated in public, along with Surgeon General Jerome Adams, despite the president’s own lack of interest in sending a similar public health message.

coronavirus is regularly killing around 3,000 Americans a day

Vice President Pence wasn’t following the rules — not about timing, not about interrupting — during Wednesday’s debate. Moderator Susan Page’s efforts at polite shushing, uttering repeated “thank you’s,” was about as effective as a cafeteria monitor trying to halt a food fight. It fell to Harris to remind the vice president, “I’m speaking” — something he already knew but chose to ignore.

If Harris had raised her voice in those moments, she would have been labeled shrill. If she had frowned, she would have been labeled a scold. If she had raised a hand, she would have been called angry or even unhinged.

she smiled as she held her ground — and of course they called it a smirk, a grin that by definition comes off as irritating or smug. But it was more than that. Harris gave Pence “The Look” — and you don’t have to look up that phrase to know exactly what I mean.

For four years, Vice President Mike Pence has walked the Trump tight rope more successfully than anyone else in the president’s orbit, staying on his good side without having to echo his most incendiary rhetoric.

In the last few months of Mr. Pence’s time as vice president, his advisers want him focused on leading the coronavirus task force and helping the two Georgia Republicans facing runoffs that will determine whether the party maintains its Senate majority.

Mr. Pence told the lawmakers he planned to travel to Georgia on Nov. 20 to campaign for Republican senators in the two runoff elections.