Pence told Trump he couldn't flip the election and Wednesday's storms dropped 4 tornadoes on Wisconsin

Pence repeatedly told Trump that any plan to have Pence reject electoral votes was illegal

• Marc Short said in a videotaped interview with the Jan. 6 committee that Pence had not only written a letter to Trump saying he had no such legal authority, but communicated the same thing to Trump “many times” and “very consistently.”

• Retired federal judge Michael Luttig cited numerous legal rulings to knock down the pro-Trump claim that Pence had any authority whatsoever to throw out electoral votes. "There was no historical precedent," Luttig said. Basically, the vice president has no power at all when it comes to congressional counting of electoral votes, Luttig said, including recognition of seven slates of alternative electors put up by the Trump people. Luttig, revered in the conservative legal community, advised Pence in the period leading up to Jan. 6. The danger hasn't passed, he said at the hearing. “Today, almost two years after that fateful day in January 2021, still Donald Trump and his allies and supporters are a clear and present danger to American democracy,” Luttig said. “I don’t speak those words lightly. I would have never spoken those words ever in my life, except that that’s what the former president and his allies are telling us.”

• White House officials said during a call the morning of Jan. 6, 2021, Trump called Pence a "wimp" and accused him of lacking the courage to make the right decision. Trump placed the call surrounded by family and aides in the Oval Office. “At some point it started off at a calmer tone and then became heated,” said Eric Herschmann, a White House lawyer. “The conversation was pretty heated,” said Ivanka Trump, the president’s daughter and senior adviser. “It was a different tone than I’d heard him take with the vice president before.”

At least 4 tornadoes have been confirmed in Wisconsin during Wednesday's storms and an EF-2 tornado near Tomah had wind speeds of 115 mph

• The National Weather Service had teams out surveying damage across Wisconsin Thursday and they have confirmed 4 tornadoes touched down near Tomah, Mauston LaFarge and Seymour.

• The Tomah tornado was an EF-2 with wind speeds of 115 mph. It was 200-feet wide at one point and was on the ground for more than a half hour, traveling just under 21 miles. Tree damage occurred along the length of the tornado's path and buildings were damaged south of Wyeville. The other three tornadoes were EF-1s.

• The weather service issued 64 tornado warnings across Wisconsin on Wednesday, said Sarah Marquardt, a weather service meteorologist in Sullivan. Most of the storms were warned multiple times as they crossed county lines. "That's a lot," Marquardt said. "Just the amount of severe weather was a little unusual." But, she added, "We get a handful of days each year where we can get widespread severe weather." ​​​​​​​

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Today's Weather

Gorgeous day. Sunny and 81. The weekend looks pretty terrific, too, before the heat returns Monday. The good thing? No storms in the forecast until a slight chance Tuesday night.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Pence told Trump he couldn't flip the election