By Steve Neavling
When Trump supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, the Secret Service took former Vice President Mike Pence to an underground Capitol loading dock, an inspector with the agency confirmed during a trial stemming from the insurrection.
Testifying during the trial on Monday, Secret Service Inspector Lanelle Hawa said Pence remained at the loading dock for several hours, CNN reports.
“We took him to a secure location … underground,” Secret Service inspector Lanelle Hawa testified. “It was in the loading dock.”
The testimony marks the first time the government publicly revealed where Pence was taken.
Hawa was forced to testify in the trial of “Cowboys for Trump” founder Couy Griffin, a New Mexico county commissioner charged with two misdemeanors for his involvement in the riot. Pence’s location is important to the case because prosecutors allege Griffin entered a restricted area created for Pence’s visit.
“Griffin must be allowed to test the veracity of the Government’s contention that Vice President Pence was on the Capitol grounds during the relevant period,” Judge Trevor McFadden wrote days before the trial.
