前副总统迈克·彭斯周三更广泛地参与了对前总统的起诉唐纳德·特朗普他的前老板，1月6日和特朗普推动推翻2020年选举.
彭斯在印第安纳波利斯的印第安纳州博览会上发表讲话时强调，他“希望这个问题和对总统当天行动的判断将留给美国人民”，而不是法律系统——但他也对特朗普的决定提出了一些最强烈的谴责1月6日左右.
“可悲的是，总统被一群疯狂的律师包围着，不停地告诉他他发痒的耳朵想听到的东西，”彭斯说。“虽然我向他说明了我的情况，我理解我的宪法誓言的要求，但总统最终继续要求我选择他而不是宪法。”
他说，那便士不够。
他说:“我真的相信，任何将自己置于宪法之上的人都不应该成为美国总统。”“任何要求他人将自己置于宪法之上的人，都不应该再成为美国总统。”
彭斯已成为司法部1月6日调查的关键人物，特朗普试图让彭斯阻止他们在2020年大选中失败的认证，这是对特朗普新指控的关键部分，特朗普对此予以否认。彭斯作为副总统的角色在起诉书中被提到超过100次。
自离任以来，彭斯在一个方面对特朗普的批评越来越多:特朗普坚持认为，彭斯有权在2021年的国会联席会议上拒绝选举人团的结果。
“我们的创始人刚刚赢得了一场反对国王的战争，他们最不会做的事情就是这种单方面的权威和任何一个人来决定谁将成为下一任总统。我当即拒绝了，”他在集市上说。
“因此，在这一时刻，不管这个案件如何发展，我希望美国人民知道，我全心全意地相信，在上帝的恩典下，我在那一天履行了我的职责，”彭斯继续说。“我支持共和党总统候选人提名，我想让你们知道...我将永远坚持美国宪法。我们的国家比任何一个人都重要。我们的宪法比任何一个人都重要。”
彭斯说:“总统那天坚持的，坦率地说，在过去两年半里反复说过的话完全是错误的。”
他在博览会的竞选活动中对记者说，他不会对起诉书的是非曲直发表评论，起诉书于周二公布，指控特朗普犯有四项罪行:阴谋欺诈美国、阴谋阻挠官方程序、阻挠和试图阻挠官方程序以及阴谋侵犯权利。
但周三，彭斯重申了他在1月6日的立场。
“现在要由政府来证明这确实是犯罪活动，”他说。
当被问及他在通读起诉书的45页后学到了什么时，彭斯指出，起诉书列出了特朗普和他的盟友如何据称在七个战场州招募了一批假选举人来签署证书，谎称特朗普赢了，而他没有赢。
“我对这项工作一无所知...我是事后才知道的，”彭斯说。
他单独为自己支持共和党议员在2021年1月6日总统选举人计数期间提出的反对意见进行了辩护。
“正如我那天所说的那样，我对全国各州发生的投票违规行为感到担忧，”他说——尽管没有任何此类所谓的违规行为被证实会改变2020年的结果。
“我做好了充分的准备，以确保我们听到了国会议员提出的所有论点和担忧，但是...随后发生的暴力事件掩盖了所有这些，我很高兴知道全国各地的州都在加强选举诚信法律，”彭斯继续说，“我将继续尽我所能加强美国人民的信心和我们选举的诚信。”
当被问及他是否会在特朗普未来的刑事审判中作证时，彭斯没有排除这种可能性，他指出，在特朗普寻求阻止他说话后，他已经在特别顾问的调查中出庭，声称拥有行政特权。
“嗯，我在大陪审团面前根据传票作证。我是一个相信法治的人，但你看，我没有什么可隐瞒的，”彭斯说。
虽然他认为特朗普要求他推翻选举是错误的，但他说他不想看到刑事指控，因为他认为“这只会进一步点燃这个国家的分歧。”
“所以我的重点不在起诉书或它的是非曲直上。总统可以证明这一点。但在我寻求共和党提名时，我将向美国人民表明，尽管唐纳德·特朗普在过去两年半里说过什么，我无权推翻选举，”他说。
周三，彭斯在他的家乡印第安纳州受到欢迎，他在印第安纳州博览会上谈论了“餐桌”问题，如果他当选总统，他将通过他的计划来打击通货膨胀。
“我相信不同的时代需要不同的领导。我相信共和党和白宫的新领导层的时候到了，”彭斯告诉公平的与会者。“我将每天努力工作，继续让印第安纳感到骄傲。”
这位前副总统在周二的一份声明中首次对起诉书发表了评论，他还说，“今天的起诉书是一个重要的提醒:任何将自己置于宪法之上的人都不应该成为美国总统。”
他写道，特朗普有权被推定无罪，但认为“他的候选人资格意味着更多关于1月6日的谈论和更多分心。”
“我们的国家比一个人更重要。我们的宪法比任何一个人的职业生涯都重要，”声明说。“1月6日，前总统特朗普要求我在他和宪法之间做出选择。我选择了宪法，我将永远如此。”
副总统迈克·彭斯和美国众议院议长南希·佩洛西正在主持国会联席会议，以统计2020年总统选举的选举人团选票...显示更多undefined
彭博通过盖蒂图片，文件
随着彭斯更直接地挑战他的前竞选伙伴，他似乎正在获得一些财务动力。
周三晚些时候，彭斯的竞选经理史蒂夫·德莫拉(Steve DeMaura)在与捐助者的电话中说，彭斯的独立捐助者已超过3万人，平均每天有超过1000名新捐助者，并有望最早在下周参加8月23日的第一场初选辩论。
“在我们看来，我们认为可能在未来7到10天内，我们会锁定它，”彭斯在电话中说。
Pence says 'crackpot lawyers' told Trump what he wanted to hear
Former Vice President Mike Pence on Wednesday weighed in more extensively on the indictment of former PresidentDonald Trump, his old boss, over Jan. 6 and Trump's push to overturn the 2020election.
Pence, speaking at the Indiana State Fair in Indianapolis, stressed that he "had hoped that this issue and the judgment of the president's actions that day would be left to the American people" rather than the legal system -- but he also offered some of his strongest condemnations yet of Trump's decisionsaround Jan. 6.
"Sadly, the president was surrounded by a group of crackpot lawyers that kept telling him what his itching ears wanted to hear," Pence said. "And while I made my case to him, with what I understood my oath of the Constitution to require, the president ultimately continued to demand that I choose him over the Constitution."
That Pence would not do, he said.
"I really do believe that anyone who puts themselves over the Constitution should never be President of the United States," he said. "And anyone who asks someone else to put themselves over the Constitution should never be President of the United States again."
Pence has emerged as a key figure in the Department of Justice's Jan. 6 investigation and Trump's efforts to have Pence block the certification of their defeat in the 2020 election is a key part of the new charges against Trump, which he denies. Pence's role as vice president is mentioned in the indictment more than 100 times.
Since leaving office, Pence has become increasingly critical of Trump in one respect: Trump's insistence that Pence had the authority to reject the Electoral College results during a joint session of Congress in 2021.
"Our founders had just won a war against a king, and the last thing they would have done was this unilateral authority and any one person to decide who would be the next president. I dismissed it out of hand," he said at the fair.
"So in this moment, irrespective of how this case plays out, I want the American people to know that I believe with all my heart, by God's grace, I did my duty on that day," Pence went on to say. "And as I stand for the Republican nomination for president, I want you to know ... I'll always stand on the Constitution of the United States. Our country is more important than any one man. Our Constitution is more important than any one man."
"What the president maintained that day and, frankly, has said over and over again over the last two and a half years is completely false," Pence said.
Speaking to reporters while campaigning at the fair, he said he would not comment on the merits of the indictment, which was unveiled on Tuesday and charges Trump with four counts: conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding and conspiracy against rights.
But on Wednesday Pence did reaffirm where he stood on Jan. 6.
"It will be up to the government now to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that this actually represented criminal activity," he said.
Asked what he had learned after reading through the indictment's 45 pages, Pence pointed to it laying out how Trump and his allies allegedly recruited a slate of fake electors in seven battleground states to sign certificates falsely stating Trump had won when he hadn't.
"I didn't know anything about the effort ... I learned that after the fact," Pence said.
He separately defended his support for the objections that were raised by Republican lawmakers during the counting of the presidential electors on Jan. 6, 2021.
"As I said that day, I had concerns about voting irregularities that had taken place in states around the country," he said -- though no such alleged irregularities have ever been confirmed in any amount to change the 2020 results.
"I was fully prepared to make sure that we heard all the arguments and concerns that members of Congress had brought, but ... the violence that ensued eclipsed all of that, and I am glad to know that states around the country have been strengthening election integrity laws," Pence went on to say, "and I'll continue to do everything I can to strengthen the confidence in the American people and the integrity of our elections."
When asked if he'd testify at Trump's future criminal trial, Pence didn't rule it out, noting he already sat before the special counsel's investigation after Trump sought to prevent him from speaking, claiming executive privilege.
"Well, I testified under a subpoena before the grand jury. I'm somebody that believes in the rule of law, but look, I have nothing to hide," Pence said.
While he argued Trump was wrong to ask him to overturn the election, he said he didn't want to see criminal charges brought because he believes "this is only going to further ignite the divide in the country."
"And so my focus is going to be not on the indictment or the merits of it. The president can make his case for it. But I'm going to make it clear to the American people, as I seek the Republican nomination, that despite what Donald Trump has said over the last two and a half years, that I had no right to overturn the election," he said.
Pence was welcomed to his home state on Wednesday to talk about "kitchen table" issues at the Indiana State Fair, where he walked through his plan to fight inflation if he is elected president.
"I believe different times call for different leadership. I believe the time has come for new leadership in the Republican Party and new leadership in the White House," Pence told fair attendees. "And I'm gonna work every day to continue to make Indiana proud."
The former vice president first commented on the indictment in a statement on Tuesday, where he also said, "Today's indictment serves as an important reminder: anyone who puts himself over the Constitution should never be President of the United States."
He wrote that Trump is entitled to a presumption of innocence but argued "his candidacy means more talk about January 6th and more distractions."
"Our country is more important than one man. Our Constitution is more important than any one man's career," the statement said. "On January 6th, Former President Trump demanded that I choose between him and the Constitution. I chose the Constitution and I always will."
As Pence takes on his former running mate more directly, he appears to be gaining some financial momentum.
In a call with donors later Wednesday, Pence's campaign manager, Steve DeMaura, said Pence has surpassed 30,000 unique donors, is averaging more than 1,000 new donors a day and is on track to qualify for the first primary debate, on Aug. 23, as early as next week.
"By our lights, we think maybe the next seven to 10 days, we'll lock it down," Pence said on the call.
