Mike Pence must testify on conversations held with Trump leading to Jan. 6: Report
Rachel Schilke
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Former Vice President Mike Pence must testify about his communications with former President Donald Trump leading up to Jan. 6, 2021, a federal judge said.
Sources told CNN a judge ruled on Tuesday that Pence must testify before a grand jury in the Justice Department’s special counsel investigation of Trump regarding actions taken during and after the 2020 election.
PENCE SUBPOENAED BY SPECIAL COUNSEL OVERSEEING TRUMP INVESTIGATIONS
Pence can appeal the ruling, which is still under seal. If he decides to testify, the federal judge ruled that the former vice president may decline to answer questions related to his actions on Jan. 6, the day of the insurrection at the Capitol.
The former vice president implied last week that he would not fight all the elements in the subpoena from special counsel Jack Smith, who is also serving as special counsel in a separate DOJ investigation into classified documents discovered at Trump’s home in August 2022.
He has called the subpoena “unconstitutional and unprecedented.” However, unlike Trump on multiple occasions, he did not assert executive privilege. Instead, his legal counsel cited the speech and debate clause that insulates congressional officials from legal scrutiny. Pence claims that in his capacity to certify the election on Jan. 6, 2021, he was serving as president of the Senate.
Smith subpoenaed Pence in early February along with Robert O’Brien, Trump’s former national security adviser. The subpoena came after months of conversations between Smith’s and Pence’s legal teams.
Pence has continued his stance that Trump is to blame for the events of Jan. 6, citing in his book, So Help Me God, that he was “angry about the differences he and I had.” He added he and the president parted amicably and that it “was important that we would go our separate ways.”
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In turn, Trump slammed Pence during his campaign event in Davenport, Iowa, in March, blaming him for the outcome of Jan. 6.
“Had he sent the votes back to the legislatures, they wouldn’t have had a problem with Jan. 6, so in many ways, you can blame him,” Trump had said. “Had he sent them back to Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona, the states, I believe … you would have had a different outcome. But I also believe you wouldn’t have had ‘Jan. 6,’ as we call it.”