A new photo appeared which shows Mike Pence, then-Vice President, and his family in hiding after rioters broke into the Capitol on January 6 and he was evacuated from the Senate floor.
The image is being published for the first time on the eve of the House January 6 committee’s hearing, focused on former President Donald Trump’s pressure campaign against Pence.
In the photo, Pence can be seen with members of his family in the vice president’s ceremonial office just steps from the Senate floor, including second lady Karen Pence, his brother, Rep. Greg Pence and his daughter.
The photo also shows Karen Pence hurriedly closing the curtains in the room, as her daughter looks on with fear.
It was taken just minutes after the mob had breached the Capitol and as Pence and his family were evacuated from the chamber by his Secret Service detail.
The second lady could see rioters outside the Capitol, so she closed the curtains, worried that the attackers would see her and her family, according to a source who was in the room.
The photo was taken after the mob had already breached the Capitol, while some of the rioters were chanting “Hang Mike Pence.”
Myles Cullen, the former vice president’s official photographer is the author of this and other photos which were taken that day, as he was with Pence throughout the day and night of January 6.
While they were previously described in “Betrayal: The Final Act of the Trump Show,” they have never before been made public.
Pence and his family were rushed downstairs to a loading dock beneath the Capitol complex, just minutes later.
Pence can be seen in another White House photo taken that day after he returned to the Capitol with his daughter while working on the speech he would give when the joint session of Congress reconvened to certify the election of Joe Biden.
Pence returned to the House chamber later that night, to preside as Congress successfully certified Biden’s victory, as can be seen in another photo.
“Today was a dark day in the history of the United States Capitol. But thanks to the swift efforts of U.S. Capitol Police, federal, state and local law enforcement, the violence was quelled. The Capitol is secured, and the people’s work continues,” said Pence.