The mob event, and Trump's fury at Pence in the lead-up to it, left their relationship in tatters. Before their Oval Office meeting Monday, the pair had not spoken since before Trump's rally on the Ellipse last week. Their last conversation was punctuated by a vulgarity the President uttered after Pence informed him, for a final time, that he could not unilaterally reject the results of the election, something he had already told Trump in previous meetings that often dragged on for hours.
On several occasions, Trump had sent a random assortment of lawyers, such as Jenna Ellis, to the vice president to explain, in his mind, that he could disrupt the results process.
The final conversation left Trump irate, and his anger emerged during the rally itself, when he told the crowd he hoped "Mike has the courage to do what he has to do" and ignores "the stupid people that he's listening to."
It was the first time in their more than four years as political partners that Trump's vengeance had been trained on a man known mostly for his fealty. Even as others once close to Trump -- from his personal attorney Michael Cohen to his first attorney general, Jeff Sessions, to any manner of former aides -- met similar fates, Pence was spared.
The turn of events has left Pence shaken and caused him to exclaim in anger to a fellow Republican: "After all the things I've done for (Trump)!"
Pence also recently learned that pro-Trump attorney Sidney Powell was involved in the lawsuit filed by Trump's Republican allies against him. Trump was not only aware, but had encouraged the effort, people close to the situation said.
Even when the President returned to the White House while his crowd set off for the Capitol, Trump's anger at Pence did not abate. And as the crowd broke down doors, mobbed the building, and in some cases appeared to be hunting Pence himself, Trump remained focused on the perceived disloyalty.
The threats against Pence have not been limited to the particular actions of the rioters on Wednesday. Pence's staff has received two threatening emails sent to an internal distribution list from an outside sender in the past days, both before and after the insurrection attempt at the Capitol on Wednesday, according to a White House official. Pence himself is not on the distribution list.
Pence's office declined to comment on the threatening emails sent to the staff distribution list. On Saturday, deputy press secretary Judd Deere said the White House "strongly condemn(s) all calls to violence, including those against any member of this administration."
After Wednesday's events, Pence allies were aghast the President did not call to ensure the vice president's safety, or the safety of his wife and daughter, who had accompanied him as he performed the ceremonial role of overseeing the Electoral College tally. Pence's brother, Rep. Greg Pence, an Indiana Republican, was also inside. Instead, the President was trying to phone Republican allies to convince them to persist in their futile rejection of the election results.
"Was he concerned at all that an angry mob that he commanded to march on the Capitol might injure the vice president or his family?" a person familiar with the matter asked.
Inside the besieged Capitol, it was Pence and not Trump who coordinated phone calls with law enforcement and security agencies. Afterward, Pence phoned the family of the fallen Capitol Police officer, Brian Sicknick, even as Trump remained silent. And after Trump finally conceded he would not serve another term in office, it is Pence who will attend President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration while Trump says he will boycott it....
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