Just over three years since rioters stormed the Capitol and targeted him, former Vice President Mike Pence pushed back against the theory popularized by former President Donald Trump and members of his MAGA base that the FBI was responsible for the Jan. 6 insurrection.

“I’ve heard the many repeated assurances from the FBI that they were not involved, and I take them at their word,” Pence said during an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Sunday.

Trump has leaned on the conspiracies around Jan. 6 as he looks to retake the White House, claiming
Antifa and the FBI were “leading the charge” as his supporters marched from his rally rally to the Capitol. Those who have been imprisoned for joining the riot are “hostages,” Trump has said on the campaign trail, a description echoed Sunday by Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”