ABC reporter reveals there are photos of Pence 'holed up in a basement' amid Capitol riots — but he can’t release them
An ABC News reporter reveaked there are photos of former Vice President Mike Pence hiding in a basement during the Capitol riots that erupted on Jan. 6.
On Monday, November 8, Jonathan Karl, a long-time White House correspondent for ABC News, appeared on Stephen Colbert's show where he shared details about his new book, "Betrayal: The Final Act of the Trump Show." According to Business Insider, Karl's book sheds light on new details about the insurrection on the U.S. Capitol and the events that preceded the deadly incident.
TONIGHT! @jonkarl talks about the Jan 6th photos former VP Mike Pence doesn't want the public to see. #LSSCpic.twitter.com/TkzrIMkeWc— The Late Show (@The Late Show) 1636422203
According to Karl, a White House photographer accompanied Pence when he went to the Capitol building to certify President Joe Biden's electoral college victory. When the mob of angry Trump supporters stormed the Capitol, the photographer reportedly took pictures of the former vice president in hiding.
"I got ahold of the photographer. I actually saw all of the photographs," Karl said. "This is the vice president of the United States, and he's like holed up in a basement."
He added, "He was in a loading dock in an underground parking garage beneath the Capitol Complex: no place to sit, no desk, no chairs, no nothing. He was in this concrete parking garage."
Karl also claimed one image captures Pence appearing to look at a tweet that former President Donald Trump posted attacking him for his refusal to attempt to overturn the presidential election. "You can see it kind of looks like Pence is grimacing," Karl said. "But you can never really tell."
Although Karl was prohibited from sharing the photos in his book, he expects the congressional committee overseeing the investigation will likely review them. "They're your photos. They're everybody's photos here," Karl said.
At the time, Pence was a target for Capitol rioters because Trump had repeatedly insisted that he could overturn the election. However, Pence repeatedly pushed back against the former president's orders as he made it abundantly clear that the request was not an order within his power.
