Mike Pence Claims Donald Trump Took Bad Advice From a 'Group of Crank Lawyers' Prior to January 6th Capitol Riots

Mike Pence has repeatedly slammed Donald Trump for his allegedly careless actions during the Capitol riots, but according to the former vice president, that doesn't mean that the 77-year-old should be hit with criminal charges.

On a Tuesday, July 18, installment of NewsNation’s Elizabeth Vargas Reports, Pence downplayed Trump's alleged role in the events that took place, saying he had been acting on poor advice from several attorneys.

"You know, I lived through that day on January 6th," he told Vargas. "And as you, as you recounted, after we made the proper protections for my constitutional prerogatives as President of the Senate, I was called upon to testify, and it did so in a way consistent with the story that I've told the American people look, President Trump, the words that day were reckless, I had no right to overturn the election."

"President Trump was wrong then, he's — he's wrong now," he continued. "And I believe that history, history will hold him to account for his actions that day."

"But with regard to the prospect of an indictment, I hope it doesn't come to that," he added. "I'm not convinced that the President acting on the bad advice of, of a group of crank lawyers that came into the White House in the days before January 6th is actually criminal."

He also stated that he believes the recent flurry of charges against the embattled politician has caused the American people to lose their confidence in the Department of Justice, further alleging many Americans have grown "deeply concerned about unequal treatment under the law."

"So I don't know what the letter today means the notification means, but my hope is that this, the judgment about the President's actions on January 6th would be left to the American people," he concluded.

Pence's bombshell interview came hours after Trump took to his Truth Social platform to confirm he'd been informed that he was under investigation yet again.

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"Deranged Jack Smith, the prosecutor with [President] Joe Biden’s DOJ, sent a letter (again, it was Sunday night!) stating that I am a TARGET of the January 6th Grand Jury investigation, and giving me a very short 4 days to report to the Grand Jury, which almost always means an Arrest and Indictment," Trump wrote in the lengthy statement shared on Tuesday, July 18. "Nothing like this has ever happened in our Country before, or even close."