Mike Pence said he hoped the Justice Department will not bring criminal charges against Donald Trump, adding that such a decision could hurt the US.
The former vice president, who is likely weighing a 2024 Republican presidential bid that would pit him against the former president, appeared to downplay Mr Trump’s actions in a recent interview.
He also dismissed the Jan 6 committee investigating Capitol Hill riots as “partisan tainted”.
Speaking on Fox News on Monday, Mr Pence said he was disappointed by the “partisan nature” of the House select committee that was appointed by a Democratic speaker.
“I think the president’s actions and words on January 6 were reckless, but I don’t know that it’s criminal to take bad advice from lawyers,” Mr Pence said.
“I hope the Justice Department understands the magnitude, the very idea of indicting a former president of the United States,” Mr Pence added.
“I think that would be terribly divisive in the country at a time when the American people want to see us heal. At this time of year, we’re all thinking about the most important things in our lives, our faith, our family, and my hope is the Justice Department will think very carefully with how they proceed in that regard,” he said referring to the Christmas and holiday season.
His comments came ahead of the select committee’s historic official vote to refer Mr Trump to the Justice Department for prosecution on charges stemming from alleged violations of at least five separate sections of the US criminal code.
The final committee meeting capped an end to 18-month-long exhaustive investigations into the former president’s role in the Capitol riots. The committee officially voted to refer the twice-impeached president to the Justice Department for prosecution.
While Congressional Republicans avoided speaking about the Jan 6 committee’s criminal referral, senate minority leader Mitch McConnell appeared to blame Mr Trump.
“The entire nation knows who is responsible for that day. Beyond that, I don’t have any immediate observations,” Mr McConnell said in a statement reacting to the House panel voting on Monday.
Mr Trump’s allies, however, have attacked the committee.
Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia slammed the committee and accused it of abusing its power.
“They weaponise the government against their political enemies and the people who support them. They control all communications in order to control the information,” she said, sharing a tweet by the committee.
Representative Claudia Tenney of New York, another Trump ally, said the Jan 6 committee staged a “Soviet-style show trial”.
“Due process was disregarded while facts and witnesses were manipulated, all to support a pre-determined outcome for purely political reasons,” she said.
The criminal referral by the panel was also dismissed by Representatives Andy Biggs of Arizona, Elise Stefanik of New York and Scott Perry of Pennsylvania.
