Mike Pence is covering himself and trying to minimize his role in the attempted coup. If he really believed what he said, then he would never have "visited" so many people looking for a way in and not a way out.

He's establishing his line of defense so that he can refer to it should he ever have to testify or go to trial. Pence was a dead-in-the-water ex-governor, and Trump selected him knowing that he would owe him eternal gratitude. He's pretty much given him that, but, "hey bud, I'm not going to jail."