a "wimp" on the call, with President Trump adding that he "made the wrong decision" in choosing Pence as his running mate.[242]
Keith Kellogg, Vice President Pence's National Security Advisor, also heard the conversation. President Trump "told the Vice President that, you know, he has legal authority to send these folks [the electors] back to the respective States," Kellogg told the Select Committee.[243] President Trump insisted that Vice President Pence had the "constitutional authority to" reject certain electoral college votes.[244] When Vice President Pence would not budge, President Trump told him "you're not tough enough to make the call."[245]
But Vice President Pence would not be bullied. The Vice President, who was at his residence at the time, had been meeting with Greg Jacob to finalize the statement he would be releasing later that day. When the President called, Pence stepped away to answer the phone. According to Jacob, when Pence returned, he did not say anything about the call—but he looked "steely, determined, [and] grim," as he reentered the room.[246]
