The US House of Representatives committee investigating last year’s US Capitol riot held its third public hearing into the attack
It said ex-President Donald Trump tried to pressure Vice-President Mike Pence to unilaterally overturn the 2020 election result
'Our democracy came dangerously close to catastrophe', said committee chairman Bennie Thompson, but 'Mike Pence said no'
Greg Jacob, Pence's former legal counsel, said he examined a theory that Pence had power to change the outcome but concluded it had 'no justifiable basis'
Former judge and conservative legal scholar Michael Luttig told the hearing something 'tantamount to a revolution' was averted by Pence's refusal
Mike Pence's life was in danger and at one point he was only about 40 feet (12 metres) from the rioters, committee member Pete Aguilar said
The Democratic-led January 6 select committee wants to create a definitive account of the riot and events around it
Image source, Getty ImagesThe select committee has concluded its third day of hearings.
Again, lawmakers presented the findings of its investigation so far, this time focusing on evidence that Donald Trump knew his plan to overturn the election was illegal but pressed on anyway.
The committee's next hearing is scheduled for 1300 local time on Tuesday.
Before the committee hearing drew to a close, chairman Bennie Thompson said the information presented so far has only been possible "because so many witnesses have cooperated" with the probe.
But he says "there are more people with direct knowledge and evidence germane to our investigation".
In a direct-to-camera appeal, he calls for "those who might be on the fence about cooperating" to reach out to the committee.
"I thank those who've sent us evidence for their bravery and patriotism," he said.
Today's hearing has come to a close.
In her closing remarks, Liz Cheney, the Republican vice-chair of the committee, said that in subsequent hearings the US public will hear about the efforts to apply pressure" on Republican state legislatures and officials over the 2020 election results.
Cheney said that the panel will examine "threats" as well as the Trump team's efforts to transfer "materially false" materials after the election.
Former White House lawyer Eric Herschmann, in videotaped deposition, recounts telling attorney John Eastman after the siege on 6 January that he did not want to hear about anything other than an "orderly transition".
Herschmann adds that he said, using an expletive: "Now I'm going to give you the best free legal advice you'll ever get in your life: get a great criminal defence lawyer. You're going to need it."
Committee member Pete Aguilar displays an email in which, a few days after the riots, Eastman wrote to Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani and asked to be included on a list of potential recipients of a coveted presidential pardon.
Pardons effectively wipe away any convictions, including pre-emptively.
The request was not granted.
Sarah Smith
North America Editor
Image source, Getty ImagesThere is absolutely NO way the vice-president could reject the result of the presidential election. That may not seem like news.
Most people listening to this testimony will be thinking "no [expletive], Sherlock"
Only a tiny handful of people around Donald Trump thought it was even remotely possible that Mike Pence could declare Trump the winner or send the results back to individual states. And we already know that those people were known by some as "Team Crazy".
It may seem hardly necessary to lay out all the legal, historical and constitutional arguments over why it is not possible for one person to overturn an election result.
So why are we listening to all this evidence about what legal advisers discussed and the pressure Trump piled on Pence to get him to change his mind?
It is part of the wider case the committee plan to make against Donald Trump.
They want to demonstrate not just that Trump inspired the violent attack on the Capitol on 6 Jan 2021, but that it was part of a wider, deliberate conspiracy to illegally overturn the election result. No less than an attempted coup.
The committee will return to this narrative when they draw together all the strands of their inquiry and put together what will amount to the case for the prosecution of Donald Trump.
The select committee can't try or convict Trump. They can't even bring criminal charges against him. But the attorney general can, and he has said he is watching these hearings closely. It's obvious that members of the committee think there is a case to answer.
Just before the end of the hearing, witness Greg Jacob said that he believes the long-term consequences of Mike Pence following Trump's plans would have been "antithetical to our democracy".
Tara McKelvey
BBC News, Washington
It’s not quite as crowded in the hearing room as it has been in previous days - but it’s packed with drama.
For those who knew Pence during his days as vice-president, the hearing lays out a remarkable transformation.
Pence showed absolute fidelity during most of his term but he chose to certify the 2020 election results, going against his boss.
The hearing suggests Pence proved to be just as resolute in that as he had once been in his support for President Trump because he did not believe he had the authority to circumvent the electoral process.
He thought the authors of the US constitution would never have given that kind of power to one individual. Witness testimony during the hearing showed the pressure that Pence was under to change his mind.
It took Pence a long time to stand up to the president but once he did, he never wavered.
A pro-Trump mob called the loyal former vice-president a traitor who should be hanged. What changed?
The BBC's Anthony Zurcher explains.
Produced by Dan Lytwyn.
How Mike Pence became a villain in Trump world
The top-ranking House Republican, Kevin McCarthy, does not support the work of the 6 January committee.
But on the day of the Capitol riots, he wanted Donald Trump to step in.
In his deposition, Vice-President Pence's chief of staff Marc Short testifies he made several calls to senior government officials, including McCarthy.
McCarthy "expressed frustration that [the White House] was not taking the circumstances as seriously as they should in that moment", Short says.
Witness Greg Jacob adds that, in spite of the threat to his vice-president's life, Trump did not call to check whether he was safe.
Image source, Getty ImagesAt one point only about 40 feet (12 metres) separated Mike Pence from the rioters on 6 January, Representative Aguilar has said.
Aguilar's comments came after the committee detailed efforts by the Secret Service to evacuate Pence from the Capitol after an increasingly large group of rioters had breached the complex.
At one point, rioters were directly below Pence's location.
"I don't think I was aware that they were as close as that," said Greg Jacob, Pence's former legal counsel, who was with the vice-president at the time.
Aguilar noted that a confidential informant from the far-right Proud Boys group told Justice Department investigators that the group would have "killed Mike Pence if given a chance".
Image source, Getty ImagesWhite House chief of staff Mark Meadows has not cooperated with information requests from the 6 January committee and did not sit down for an interview.
But two of his key aides, Ben Williamson and Sarah Matthews, agreed to be deposed.
In footage from their questioning, both say "the situation [at the Capitol] was getting out of hand" and were of the opinion that Trump needed to put out a statement immediately.
They testify that Meadows informed Trump of the violence at the Capitol.
Image source, Getty ImagesNew photos seen for the first time this week show former Vice-President Mike Pence and his family taking shelter as rioters - some shouting “Hang Mike Pence” - enter the Capitol complex.
In the photos obtained and published by ABC News, Pence, along with his wife Karen, his daughter and brother Greg Pence - a US representative - can be seen in the vice-president’s ceremonial office near the Senate floor.
Karen Pence can be seen closing a curtain in the room. Minutes later, Pence and his family were rushed downstairs to a loading dock beneath the Capitol complex.
Subsequent photos - taken by his official photographer, Myles Cullen - show Pence preparing and delivering a speech he would give when lawmakers again gathered after the riot.
See the photos here, external.
Committee member Pete Aguilar is now seeking to show how Donald Trump's disagreements with Vice-President Mike Pence grew public.
Previously unseen photos of Trump on the phone with Pence on the morning of 6 January are shown.
In video-taped depositions, both Trump's daughter Ivanka and ex-White House lawyer Eric Herschmann describe the call as quickly growing "heated", with Trump using expletives.
"It was a different tone than I'd heard him take with the vice-president before," Ivanka Trump says in the footage.
Witness Greg Jacob, Pence's former legal counsel, says Pence emerged from the call "steely, determined and grim".
Nomia Iqbal
BBC News, Washington
Image source, Getty ImagesIllegal, undemocratic, un-American.
This was extraordinary testimony given by three Republicans who laid out exactly the pressure VP Mike Pence was under to overturn the election results.
In particular retired Judge Luttig - a revered conservative - appeared sombre as he said he would have laid his body across the road to stop Mike Pence from caving to Trump.
Pence hasn’t given evidence but the fact his team are here shows he has no problem with his allies speaking out.
The committee wants to show that not only did Trump knowingly take part in an illegal strategy to steal the election but he also knew that his actions could have placed Mike Pence in danger of mob violence that day.
Pence carried out his duty on 6 January and counted the election results - but the committee wants to show the pressure on Pence was part of a bigger plan by Trump and his allies to send false electors to Congress. They wanted to force Pence to dispute the results.
The plan ultimately didn’t work. But part of the committee’s concern is: what if that works next time? They want to emphasise that the threat to US democracy is ongoing.
The 6 January committee is back in session after a brief 10-minute recess.
Image source, Getty ImagesCongressman Pete Aguilar says that the widening gulf between Donald Trump and Mike Pence created genuine worry for the latter's safety.
In footage from his deposition, Pence chief of staff Marc Short said he feared the president might "lash out" at his vice-president on 6 January.
Short says he relayed his concerns to the head of the vice-president's Secret Service detail the day before the march on the Capitol.
The committee is now on a short 10-minute recess, after which we will hear more about why these concerns were "justified", Aguilar says.
Image source, Getty ImagesJacob has testified that Mike Pence's camp was "shocked and disappointed" at a statement from Donald Trump that he and Pence were in agreement about his ability to stop the election certification.
The statement from the president - which was released on 5 January, a day before the riot - said that "the Vice-President and I are in total agreement that the Vice-President has the power to act".
According to Jacob, the statement was "categorically untrue".
The committee also showed videotaped testimony from Pence's former chief of staff Marc Short, who said he had a "brief" call with communications strategist Jason Miller after the statement was released.
"I was irritated and expressed displeasure that a statement could have gone out," he said, adding: "The record shows that it's incorrect."
Image source, Getty ImagesMuch of today's hearing has focused on John Eastman and his theory of how Vice-President Mike Pence could reject the election results.
So why isn't Eastman himself testifying?
The 6 January committee issued subpoenas for the attorney's documents and testimony on the first anniversary of the Capitol riot earlier this year.
But like many others who have received such requests, Eastman refused to comply with the subpoena and tried to fight it in court.
He claimed his work for the president was protected by what is known as "executive privilege", as well as by various confidentiality restrictions.
But a judge rejected the effort and ordered Eastman to turn over hundreds of documents, which the committee is now relying on.
Greg Jacob explains that, in at least one meeting, he told Eastman that his proposals would violate several provisions of the Electoral Count Act, which governs the certification process.
"Mr Eastman acknowledged that was the case," Jacob says.
But Eastman believed that courts "wouldn't get involved", he claimed.
Jacob says he countered that, if the case went to the Supreme Court, it would be defeated 9-0 because no judge would back the theory.
Image source, Getty ImagesGreg Jacob has testified that Mike Pence "never budged" despite mounting calls from Donald Trump and others within his administration that the vice-president somehow stop the certification process on 6 January.
Jacob said that Pence did not waver in his belief that "it just made no sense" that one man would have the ability to overturn the results of the election.