Pence's Jan. 6 Notes Reveal Trump Insults; Case Dismissed

Jonathan Karl's new book Retribution publishes previously unseen notes Mike Pence wrote on Jan. 6, 2021, recording a heated phone call in which then‑President Donald Trump berated Pence and warned, “You’ll go down as a wimp,” after Pence refused to block Joe Biden’s certification. The handwritten day‑planner notes quote Trump saying, “If you do that, I made a big mistake five years ago,” and include what appears to be a scribbled angry emoji after Trump told Pence, “You listen to the wrong people.” Special counsel Jack Smith had planned to use Pence’s notes as evidence that Trump knowingly deceived supporters and targeted Pence, but those materials were not publicly released after Trump’s 2024 victory and Smith’s prosecution was later dismissed. Witnesses and aides, including former Trump aide Nicholas Luna, have provided testimony or accounts that corroborate Pence’s description of the tense exchange. Karl reports the notes sit alongside terabytes of evidence Smith amassed — including forensic copies of Trump’s phone and draft versions of his speech that appear to have been revised to target Pence — all intended to document Trump’s actions in the hours before the Capitol breach.